Again, it is not true that you cannot back your friend. Investing in a friend's business is most certainly a private offering, so that it is probably exempt und

Again, it is not true that you cannot back your friend. Investing in a friend's business is most certainly a private offering, so that it is probably exempt under 4.2 as grellas explained above. However, if the relationship becomes more tenuous, and he is not really your friend but a friend of a friend or a random acquaintance, then it might be judged to be a public offering.