Read daily. Talk in public and in private. Earn your perks.
The research lives here. The conversation happens where your people already are: on our pages, in our moderated readers’ group on LinkedIn, and in the private groups you start. The newsletter connects all of it, and First Look Points reward the habits that make the research better.
Public, private, and straight to the desk.
Our pages
We post every report, results date and daily question. Comment, ask, push back. The desk reads and answers.
Reader groups
Our moderated group on LinkedIn opens soon for readers who confirm their email. Or start your own on the platform your people use, with our rules built in.
Questions and takes
Ask the desk anything from the public record, or send a take. With your permission, the best takes run on the company’s page with your first name and position line.
Is Thursday the right day for the weekly?
One tap. Every answer earns 5 points and shapes what we research next. No price predictions, ever.
Ask the desk, or ask to join our readers' group.
In public on our pages, in private in our readers’ group or your own, or straight to the desk.
Start your own private group and earn points: My First Look. Our community rules apply everywhere we moderate. Research only, not advice.
Points for habits that make the research better.
Activity points are capped at 40 a day, so they measure the habit, not the hours. Invitations count only when the person confirms their own email, and we check before any perk goes out.
| What you do | Points | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Joined the newsletter | +10 | once |
| Confirmed your email | +25 | once |
| Finished your profile | +20 | once |
| Check in on a market day | +5 | once a day |
| Seven market days in a row | +25 | every 7 days |
| Thirty market days in a row | +100 | every 30 days |
| Answered the daily question | +5 | once a day |
| Tell us whether a piece was useful | +5 | 3 a day |
| Add a company to your watchlist | +2 | once per company |
| Write a private note on a company | +3 | once per company |
| Start a reader group | +25 | your first three |
| Share our daily question, a reader guide, your Black Card or your invite | +3 | 3 a day |
| Someone you invited confirms their email | +50 | per person, counted by us |
| Posting or sharing about a company | 0 | never rewarded |
50 points to Regular.
- ReadereveryoneYour Digital VIP Black Card in silver foil, with your member number. The daily board, the weekly and the research library.
- Regular50 pointsYour questions go to the front of the reader Q&A in the weekly.
- Insider150 pointsThe gold edition of your Black Card, and once a month a company of your choice at the front of our research queue (we still decide on the public record).
- Contributor300 pointsAn invitation to the First Look readers' group on LinkedIn, moderated by the desk.
- Founding reader600 pointsThe full VIP edition of your Black Card, and a seat at the quarterly live reader Q&A with the research desk.
- Patron1200 pointsHelp choose a company for our next featured report, and your name (if you want it) in the weekly's founding readers list.
Points have no cash value and give no access to any investment. Never for posts about a company. The rules
Start a private group where your people already talk.
LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Telegram or Facebook: you run it, we give you the rules, the description and the newsletter to read together. Your first three groups earn 25 points each.
Groups run under their platform’s rules and their organizer’s care; a group listed with us is not run by us. Our rules are built into the description.
Each person who joins with your link and confirms their email earns you 50 points.
Your invitation says you get points if they join. Invite only people who would want it; points never come from posts about a company.
Six rules, everywhere we moderate.
- Rule 1Research, not promotionNo paid or coordinated promotion of any stock. If a company pays you, employs you or you advise it, say so every time, or don't post about it.
- Rule 2Say what you holdWhen you write about a company, say whether you hold its shares or options. Takes without that line are never published by us.
- Rule 3No offers, no fundraisingNo deal pitches, allocations, private placements or requests for money of any kind. We never introduce investors to companies, and our groups are not the place to raise capital.
- Rule 4Sources over rumoursLink the filing, release or data you rely on. No price targets you can't support, no rumours presented as fact, nothing that could move a price unfairly.
- Rule 5Respect peopleNo harassment, personal attacks or sharing anyone's private details. No spam, and invite only people you know.
- Rule 6We moderateThe desk removes posts that break these rules in our own pages and group, and may remove members. Reader-run groups are run by their organizers.
How it works, plainly.
Do you pay anyone to post about a company?
No. We never award points, perks or anything else for posting, sharing or saying anything about a company or a security. Only invitations to the newsletter itself earn invitation points, and only when the invited person confirms their own email.
What are First Look Points worth?
Nothing in money. They can't be bought, sold or exchanged for cash, securities or any investment. They unlock reader perks: the gold and VIP editions of your Digital VIP Black Card, a monthly research request, an invitation to our readers' group on LinkedIn, a seat at the quarterly reader Q&A, and a say in which company we feature next.
Who runs the reader groups?
Our own LinkedIn group is moderated by the First Look desk. Groups readers start on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Telegram or Facebook are run by their organizers under those platforms' rules; we provide the description, the rules and the newsletter to read together.
Can First Look create a private LinkedIn group for me automatically?
No site can: LinkedIn's developer products cover sign-in, sharing and company-page posts, not creating or managing groups. You create the group on LinkedIn in a minute, and My First Look gives you the description, the rules and your invite link.
Is anything here investment advice?
No. First Look Equities publishes research of general circulation. Nothing here, in our groups or in readers' takes is a recommendation or an offer of any security, and our groups are never a place to raise money.
Where are my points and notes kept?
In your browser, like your watchlist, until you choose to send something to the desk. Invitation points are counted on our side when the people you invite confirm.
Research of general circulation, not advice and not an offer of any security. Points have no cash value and are never awarded for posts about a company; see the Subscriber Terms. Reader groups run under their platforms’ rules; a group listed with us is not run by us.