*EDIT: Clearly the word startup is causing confusion :) By startup, I am referring to a company that is in early stages, yet to prove / have a stable 'product' (but has proven its steps to get there), is growing fast, learning fast. This company is pre-revenue, publicly traded.*
I'll leave out the stock name to avoid clouding judgement and personal preferences over industry, company, etc. Keen to get your general thoughts on this stock managing question.
Essentially, there is a technology company (with hardware+software products) that's another couple of years away from properly generating revenue. It is a leader in its space, very innovative, very well-connected with traditional industry leaders, has great leadership with great technical background. They play it safe, do not boast. All in all, I feel quite confident in their direction and ability to navigate issues as they hit them. But - They've only hit limited milestones yet (limited compared to final target, but well on-schedule and not technologically limited by any stretch of imagination) and may hit various issues like any startup. Of course, they have good competitors too, though it is not crowded at the moment.
The stock tends to go up and down quite a bit, but I feel there is decent investor confidence.
The big questions are:
\- How much % of your portfolio would you invest in such a stock?
\- Would you hold it forever? (or at least till it starts generating revenue and profits)
\- Or would you try to do a bit of swing trading to time the up-downs? This could be even on a part of your holding, but of course there is no guarantee you will time it properly and very like you will get it wrong! But equally, it feels a shame to be holding on to say, 9-10% gain YTD when the stock's gone up and down 30-40%. Of course, like any good startup, as it starts generating revenue and stabilizes as a company, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3x or more jump in share price...