4 ms·
There is a school of thought that says that you shouldn't let people without investment experience, put their money into early-stage tech startups run by people
by rossdavidh 7y ago
There is a school of thought that says that you shouldn't let people without investment experience, put their money into early-stage tech startups run by people they know nothing about, precisely because they are less likely to understand that the great majority of startups fail. It's an elitist school of thought, for sure, but I have to say there is some truth to it.
- mikestew 7y agoIt didn't used to be an elitist school of thought, because a school of thinking on the subject wasn't needed. There were high enough fences to keep the riff-raff out (high transaction fees, inaccessible markets for commoners, et. al.). Thanks to e-Trade, Schwab, and the like, those fences got torn down, not knowing those fences not only kept people out, but they also kept the bad things in. Bad things like super-duper sketchy penny tech stocks (HMNY). Elitist? Meh, no more elitist than, say, a climbing permit for Mt. St. Helens (which is just $15 and fill out a form). Put up even a token barrier, even if it can easily hopped over.
- projektfu 7y agoIt was made inaccessible. Previously new and speculative companies were pretty accessible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curbstone_broker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curbstone_broker
- aasasd 7y agoWell thankfully now there are crowdfunding and ICOs for the hungry amateur investors.
- H8crilA 7y agoThe Intelligent Investor footnote: "In Graham's times IPOs were considered an undignified exploitation of the naive investor, and big investment banks steered away. How things have changed in the 2000 era."