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Someone investing $1M for 10% might better off buy gold or a property. It sounds good for me as a founder, but from investor point of view, this is pointless.

by Oras 2y ago

Someone investing $1M for 10% might better off buy gold or a property. It sounds good for me as a founder, but from investor point of view, this is pointless. Why taking a huge risk for 10%?

s_dev 2y ago
Because gold will appreciate reliably to an extent but a company can appreciate in value far exceeding what gold can -- that's the risk/reward trade off.
- Oras 2y ago
  The chances of a startup failing is way higher than gold degrading in price.
  - s_dev 2y ago
    It sure is and many do choose gold for this reason. It depends on how much risk you want to expose yourself to.
  - 9rx 2y ago
    Hence why the potential upset of a business is so much higher. Risk vs. reward, as usual.
  - sukhavati 2y ago
    if an investor already has X% amount of their portfolio invested in gold, they might seek to diversify by investing in uncorrelated ventured such as startups. an investments idiosyncratic risk/reward is only meaningful in relation to other investments in the universe of choices the investor can make.
jerrygenser 2y ago
Portfolio diversification
anticorporate 2y ago
There are other good replies as well, but I would add to the list mission-based investing. I would easily consider a positive impact along with risk and returns when making an investment decision. Not everyone would, and not everyone should, but it is a part of the funding landscape.
xandrius 2y ago
If for 1M I get 10%, the company is valued at 10M. Going from 10M to 20M is not a big stretch, and that would net me 1M already. More than gold appreciation I believe.
- pyb 2y ago
  1M "on paper", no cash
- Nemi 2y ago
  10M to 20M in what amount of time? This is not incidental, it is critical to determining IRR (Internal Rate of Return). If the company goes to 20M in 10 years, that sounds great, but is only a 7% compound rate of growth. I can get that with much less risk by investing in the S&P 500. And don’t discount the risk. It is critical. A small business has a very large chance of 100% total loss. Compare that to the 500 index, which has a very small chance of a 50% loss, max. To count for risk, I would look for a doubling (10M to 20M) in at least 2-3 years, min. You also have to think about liquidity. If you want to cash out, who is going to buy your shares at the price you want? This might not be as easy as you might think. I can liquidate 500 index shares in seconds. It might take a year or more to find a buyer for your 10% at the price you want.

by Oras 2y ago

Someone investing $1M for 10% might better off buy gold or a property. It sounds good for me as a founder, but from investor point of view, this is pointless. Why taking a huge risk for 10%?

s_dev 2y ago

Because gold will appreciate reliably to an extent but a company can appreciate in value far exceeding what gold can -- that's the risk/reward trade off.

Oras 2y ago
The chances of a startup failing is way higher than gold degrading in price.
- s_dev 2y ago
  It sure is and many do choose gold for this reason. It depends on how much risk you want to expose yourself to.
- 9rx 2y ago
  Hence why the potential upset of a business is so much higher. Risk vs. reward, as usual.
- sukhavati 2y ago
  if an investor already has X% amount of their portfolio invested in gold, they might seek to diversify by investing in uncorrelated ventured such as startups. an investments idiosyncratic risk/reward is only meaningful in relation to other investments in the universe of choices the investor can make.

jerrygenser 2y ago

Portfolio diversification

anticorporate 2y ago

There are other good replies as well, but I would add to the list mission-based investing. I would easily consider a positive impact along with risk and returns when making an investment decision. Not everyone would, and not everyone should, but it is a part of the funding landscape.

xandrius 2y ago

If for 1M I get 10%, the company is valued at 10M. Going from 10M to 20M is not a big stretch, and that would net me 1M already. More than gold appreciation I believe.

pyb 2y ago
1M "on paper", no cash
Nemi 2y ago
10M to 20M in what amount of time? This is not incidental, it is critical to determining IRR (Internal Rate of Return). If the company goes to 20M in 10 years, that sounds great, but is only a 7% compound rate of growth. I can get that with much less risk by investing in the S&P 500. And don’t discount the risk. It is critical. A small business has a very large chance of 100% total loss. Compare that to the 500 index, which has a very small chance of a 50% loss, max. To count for risk, I would look for a doubling (10M to 20M) in at least 2-3 years, min. You also have to think about liquidity. If you want to cash out, who is going to buy your shares at the price you want? This might not be as easy as you might think. I can liquidate 500 index shares in seconds. It might take a year or more to find a buyer for your 10% at the price you want.