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I think this is a very fun idea for a piece of content, but it's important to add context when talking about how mutual funds value private companies, specifica

I think this is a very fun idea for a piece of content, but it's important to add context when talking about how mutual funds value private companies, specifically regarding markdowns. I highly recommend anyone interested read this: http://pitchbook.com/news/articles/mutual-funds-mark-down-unicorns-so-what http://pitchbook.com/news/articles/mutual-funds-mark-down-un... "While these markdowns have caused a big reaction from much of the media, the valuation write-offs aren't as overly indicative of an actual decline in the performance of these privately held companies—rather simply an accounting measure these funds have to abide by. Sure, some of these companies likely have their own business issues but the story is a bit overblown, so let's provide some context."

nemanja 11y ago
Wouldn't quite discount the markdown as some mere accounting formality. While I agree that markdowns, in many cases, are not indicative of fundamental company performance issues, they are clearly indicative of changing market sentiment (i.e. contraction of valuation multiples). Look, these are all clearly viewed as close to IPOs (otherwise, mutual funds would have no business investing in them), and it is only natural that they dip a bit when the overall market dips a bit (NASDAQ was recently ~20% off the highs in July last year). If you look at high quality public comps (e.g. WDAY), they are still ~20% off the highs, so it makes sense that private "unicorns" are marked down just about the same amount. Basically, these mutual fund valuations are as close as you get to how public markets would value these companies, simply because these mutual funds will be the top holders and buyers when the companies hit IPO.