From the prospectus of Chamath's new SPAC: We will be attempting to find a great company at a great valuation to take public, but without doubt, the investment will entail substantial risk including the possibility of total loss. Unlike my private portfolios which hold many companies and thereby provide diversification, American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corporation A will be an investment vehicle into a single operating company. Consequently, we believe that this investment is most suitable for institutional investors, and retail investors should approach with caution, if at all. We believe that retail investors should only participate if (a) this investment is a small part of an otherwise diversified portfolio, (b) this investment is a quantum of capital they can afford to completely lose and (c) if they do lose their entire capital, they will embody the adage from President Trump that there can be “no crying in the casino.” For those who don't read Wall Street this means: "Either you will lose all your money or I will make a lot of money."
Investing/finance is socialism. If it fails, everyone eats up the losses. If it wins beautifully, only a select group reap the true rewards. Market activity, everyday, is an active storm of risk vs reward, and independent variables and elements. There is no magical set it and forget it formula out there that functions completely on auto pilot.
i think you have a motive right otherwise it's just a benign public service announcement? asking questions here just like you do. btw this is a political post not news..
At least they publicly fund, they, as in SPACs. Regulators should change laws to force any private or public entity that wants to raise money to create a funding pool that stipulates funding target and is then open to be funded where investors get allocations on a lottery basis. Founders and owners get special ownership rights ONLY if they can prove their funding those ownership rights is coming from legitimate, own sources. This will allow business owners and founders to still take ownership and a stake in their ventures but kills the entire private equity and venture capital industry overnight. Well, not kill, but it will put everyone on an equal and fair level in terms of investment opportunities. Microsoft returned 370% or so over 39 years post ipo yet PE and VC made 5x-10000x on those pre ipo finding rounds. We public investors are only able to eat the bread crumbs that fall off the table, while the fat cats get ever fatter.
Did any of Chamath's prior spacs benefit investors? I do like his podcast all in. It seemed like all spacs were pump and dumps.
The reason VC’s get the deals they do is that 9/10 of their investments fail and with each investment they bring high value consulting. PE firms often bring in a strong operational focus and improve a business or they just employ financial engineering. We can all be our own PE firm via a search fund. SPACs are a scam. Founders cash out to dumb retail investors. No high end consulting services and no operational focus. Just dumb money thinking they are PE by buying a SPAC.