> Emphatically, yes. The best startups in their early stages do not want thousands of mom&pop cheques and investors to manage, they want a small number of smart

> Emphatically, yes. The best startups in their early stages do not want thousands of mom&pop cheques and investors to manage, they want a small number of smart money, value-added investors. The need for public investors to have transparency into their investments is in conflict with an early stage startup's need to keep competitive information to themselves. That is probably true, but that's also the only option startups have during their early stages, so there's nothing to compare it to.