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Sam HAS to play down the fact that we are in a tech bubble. He is, after all, a venture capitalist, so do note the conflict of interest here. My friend referre
by doppp 10y ago
Sam HAS to play down the fact that we are in a tech bubble. He is, after all, a venture capitalist, so do note the conflict of interest here.
My friend referred me to this Bill Gurley article [1]. My metric for whether there is another bubble is not so sophisticated. I feel that there is a bubble when celebrities (like sports personalities) begin investing in questionable startups [2][3]. Harkens back to the '99 bubble.
Edit: Before you bring up Ashton Kutcher, a single data point does not a trend make. But yes, we've been in a bubble long before he began investing actually.
[1]: http://abovethecrowd.com/2014/01/24/on-bubbles/ http://abovethecrowd.com/2014/01/24/on-bubbles/
[2]: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/04/kobe-bryant-silicon-valley-tech-bro http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/04/kobe-bryant-silicon-v...
[3]: https://e27.co/boxing-champion-manny-pacquiao-throws-his-hat-into-the-startup-ring-invests-in-singapores-gtoken-20160606/ https://e27.co/boxing-champion-manny-pacquiao-throws-his-hat...
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- api 10y agoVCs have interests both ways. They can benefit in new investments if valuations are lower.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- MagnumOpus 10y agoOnly if they are late-stage investors. SamA specialises in being early, as do most of the other valley venturati. If you are a first-round investor, there is only downside in the bubble bursting.
- justinsingh 10y agoHow many celebrity investments in how many different startups does it take for your metric to reveal that there's a bubble?
- andrewvc 10y agoWell Ashton kutcher has been investing in startups for years now. If that's your metric we should have been in a bubble years ago.
- chrdlu 10y agoNot only that, but he's been killing it. Ashton Kutcher's been able to get himself access to some of the next big tech companies include Uber and Airbnb. According to this article[1], he 8.5x a 30 million dollar fund in 6 years (I am aware a lot of the gains are paper gains). But that's still incredibly better compared to the average VC that returns between 1-2x. [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/03/23/how-ashton-kutcher-and-guy-oseary-built-a-250-million-portfolio-with-startups-like-uber-and-airbnb/#6deabb324ae1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/03/23/...
- soared 10y agoPaper gains are really just bubble gains though, right?
- personjerry 10y agoBut perhaps we are too eager to discredit celebrity investors. Anyone can take the time to learn and research and then make investments. Of course, different investors still might invest in different companies, and they don't always pay out. Anecdotally, I would provide Ashton Kutcher's portfolio[0] as evidence for my case, as he has made some successful tech investments. [0] https://angel.co/aplusk https://angel.co/aplusk
- doppp 10y agoI'd like to further add that there has been a spate of large corporates scrambling to cash into the gold rush by creating large funds to invest in startups [1]. [1]: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-to-pump-up-to-s100m-into-fund-for-global-tech-start-ups http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland...
- idrios 10y agoIt's true. Imagine if Sam had written the opposite in his post, if he had said "No guys really, we're in a bubble." Listening investors stop investing in startups, making the bubble burst faster?