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If you're comparing buying shares on the public market for companies that are already worth billions of dollars to investing millions of dollars in companies th

by rewind 15y ago

If you're comparing buying shares on the public market for companies that are already worth billions of dollars to investing millions of dollars in companies that are worth a few tens of millions of dollars, then you should probably elaborate, because the comparison on its own is apples and oranges.

tatsuke95 15y ago
Here's the elaboration: Groupon: not making money. Twitter: Not making money. AirBnb: Not making money. Linked in is, kind of, but may be overvalued. So what is so remarkable about making a claim of, "look at all the billion dollar companies this guy invested in"!. Anyone can invest in billion dollar companies. There is nothing amazing about it. The fact that Conway's are tech sweethearts and he got in "early" is a product of him being a SV insider. Sorry, but I'm not entirely impressed with what may turn out to be a second tech bubble and the people who get rich pumping then flipping the shares. Edit: From Wikipedia: "Some Valley observers, notably VentureBeat, have been critical of Ron Conway for his investments during the Internet boom, believing them to be "symbolic of the era’s hubris."[6] Conway developed a reputation for throwing lavish cocktail parties and raising cash from a diverse group of celebrities, sportspeople, and political figures such as Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, and Shaquille O'Neal, which he then ploughed into start-ups." Again, Ron may be brilliant, but making money as a tech investor during a tech boom doesn't require genius. Finally, people seem to talk like getting these investors in your fund raising indicates that your startup is...something. The fact is, these guys are open about their model: throw money at lots of startups and hope that a few turn out. For example, the other day there was a hiring thread that said "money from top investors, including 500startups". To me, that means you're just one in a bunch that, according to the head guy at the fund, is probably going to fail. As for the guy who said that these companies would have loved my money at the time Conway invested, I'm not sure about that. You go to Conway first; that's the advantage of being an insider.

by rewind 15y ago

tatsuke95 15y ago

Here's the elaboration: Groupon: not making money. Twitter: Not making money. AirBnb: Not making money. Linked in is, kind of, but may be overvalued. So what is so remarkable about making a claim of, "look at all the billion dollar companies this guy invested in"!. Anyone can invest in billion dollar companies. There is nothing amazing about it. The fact that Conway's are tech sweethearts and he got in "early" is a product of him being a SV insider. Sorry, but I'm not entirely impressed with what may turn out to be a second tech bubble and the people who get rich pumping then flipping the shares. Edit: From Wikipedia: "Some Valley observers, notably VentureBeat, have been critical of Ron Conway for his investments during the Internet boom, believing them to be "symbolic of the era’s hubris."[6] Conway developed a reputation for throwing lavish cocktail parties and raising cash from a diverse group of celebrities, sportspeople, and political figures such as Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, and Shaquille O'Neal, which he then ploughed into start-ups." Again, Ron may be brilliant, but making money as a tech investor during a tech boom doesn't require genius. Finally, people seem to talk like getting these investors in your fund raising indicates that your startup is...something. The fact is, these guys are open about their model: throw money at lots of startups and hope that a few turn out. For example, the other day there was a hiring thread that said "money from top investors, including 500startups". To me, that means you're just one in a bunch that, according to the head guy at the fund, is probably going to fail. As for the guy who said that these companies would have loved my money at the time Conway invested, I'm not sure about that. You go to Conway first; that's the advantage of being an insider.