5 ms·

I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit. Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an

I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit. Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an AI graphics division?" I like AI, but seriously, who actually invests on this basis? Where is the critical thinking? I don't feel sympathy for any investor that gets rug pulled on this stuff.

enraged_camel 5mo ago
A lot of it is prisoner's dilemma and its variants. As an investor, even if you think a particular AI shift is bullshit, you have to take into account the possibility that other investors won't - and at that point you might miss out on the gains. This is one of the reasons stock market is so disconnected from reality.
- somewhatgoated 5mo ago
  But wouldn’t it be a failure if it’s bullshit and therefore no gains?
  - tokai 5mo ago
    Not if you sell before the other fools.
  - SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
    A16Z's post on the Slack IPO (https://a16z.com/announcement/slack/ https://a16z.com/announcement/slack/) is a good pointer to the kind of thinking here. A pivot from an unprofitable game to laying off 80% of the company to a weird communication app could be fairly described as "bullshit", but when your business model is finding the rare exceptions where the stars align and a company ends up being worth billions, it's not a kind of bullshit you can afford to be entirely unreceptive to.
- graemep 5mo ago
  its greater fool theory https://moneyterms.co.uk/greater-fool/ https://moneyterms.co.uk/greater-fool/
ch4s3 5mo ago
Allbirds sold their shoe business and is basically a SPAC that spun up an AI company under the existing publicly traded company. For all intents and purposes it’s just a new AI company.
teeray 5mo ago
> Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an AI graphics division?" Perhaps the investment is more on the “greater fool” theory. “I think this is complete nonsense, but there’s probably someone not as savvy who will buy into this garbage idea upon which I can profit.”
newaccountman2 5mo ago
https://youtu.be/oVItKzP6IBY https://youtu.be/oVItKzP6IBY
rich_sasha 5mo ago
Or just investment quotas requiring AI in the portfolio. I suspect it's mostly this. Or getting included in more indices etc. The more trendy boxes you tick, the broader the universe of people whose box you tick and who can thus invest.
estetlinus 5mo ago
AI graphics division: Putting in 100s of engineering hours to build and internal AI tool to produce AI-slopified marketing in order to save ~2h a month of human work.
arealaccount 5mo ago
Investors by nature lap up hype, and it seems to work for them
simianwords 5mo ago
>I like AI, but seriously, who actually invests on this basis? Where is the critical thinking? I don't feel sympathy for any investor that gets rug pulled on this stuff. They don't and the people who are falling for this rhetoric are naive. Most investors _should_ invest more in AI companies. And most companies _should_ invest in AI. It is the rational move and it is exactly what we are seeing here. I don't know what the hysteria is about.
cyphar 5mo ago
They're almost certainly hoping for a Greater Fool.
cryo32 5mo ago
You think an investor gives a shit past "if they say this, the numbers will go up"? And the numbers mostly go up because everyone has the same mentality. No one cares about the product any more. And that will be the end of all of this.
jgalt212 5mo ago
The same investor who will buy SpaceX at 250 PE. They are all over the place, hence all the AI washing.
brewdad 5mo ago
It’s the latest version of the meme stock craze. Nobody bought Gamespot stock because they thought it was a good long term investment. They bought it because they thought they could quickly double or triple their money and leave someone holding the bag
nish__ 5mo ago
You might have an investment management firm that has a "tech" portfolio and a separate "clothing" portfolio. By framing themselves as a tech company they'll be put into investors' "tech" portfolio. Clients will say "I think technology is the future; invest in tech companies for me" and the money manager will buy a bunch of shares from the tech portfolio. See how it works?
lifeformed 5mo ago
The truth is that if you get in early enough on a hype train and cash out in time, you will make money. That's enough of a rational basis to participate. The ostensible purpose of it all is basically irrelevant, except as a signal to participate.
etempleton 5mo ago
You have to realize rich people can be stupid too.
surgical_fire 5mo ago
> I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit Investment is mostly gambling with a coat of paint. It just feels slightly more serious than blackjack.

enraged_camel 5mo ago

A lot of it is prisoner's dilemma and its variants. As an investor, even if you think a particular AI shift is bullshit, you have to take into account the possibility that other investors won't - and at that point you might miss out on the gains. This is one of the reasons stock market is so disconnected from reality.

somewhatgoated 5mo ago
But wouldn’t it be a failure if it’s bullshit and therefore no gains?
- tokai 5mo ago
  Not if you sell before the other fools.
- SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
  A16Z's post on the Slack IPO (https://a16z.com/announcement/slack/ https://a16z.com/announcement/slack/) is a good pointer to the kind of thinking here. A pivot from an unprofitable game to laying off 80% of the company to a weird communication app could be fairly described as "bullshit", but when your business model is finding the rare exceptions where the stars align and a company ends up being worth billions, it's not a kind of bullshit you can afford to be entirely unreceptive to.
graemep 5mo ago
its greater fool theory https://moneyterms.co.uk/greater-fool/ https://moneyterms.co.uk/greater-fool/

ch4s3 5mo ago

Allbirds sold their shoe business and is basically a SPAC that spun up an AI company under the existing publicly traded company. For all intents and purposes it’s just a new AI company.

teeray 5mo ago

> Who actually thinks that Allbirds will see much higher returns because they "have an AI graphics division?" Perhaps the investment is more on the “greater fool” theory. “I think this is complete nonsense, but there’s probably someone not as savvy who will buy into this garbage idea upon which I can profit.”

newaccountman2 5mo ago

https://youtu.be/oVItKzP6IBY https://youtu.be/oVItKzP6IBY

rich_sasha 5mo ago

Or just investment quotas requiring AI in the portfolio. I suspect it's mostly this. Or getting included in more indices etc. The more trendy boxes you tick, the broader the universe of people whose box you tick and who can thus invest.

estetlinus 5mo ago

AI graphics division: Putting in 100s of engineering hours to build and internal AI tool to produce AI-slopified marketing in order to save ~2h a month of human work.

arealaccount 5mo ago

Investors by nature lap up hype, and it seems to work for them

simianwords 5mo ago

>I like AI, but seriously, who actually invests on this basis? Where is the critical thinking? I don't feel sympathy for any investor that gets rug pulled on this stuff. They don't and the people who are falling for this rhetoric are naive. Most investors _should_ invest more in AI companies. And most companies _should_ invest in AI. It is the rational move and it is exactly what we are seeing here. I don't know what the hysteria is about.

cyphar 5mo ago

They're almost certainly hoping for a Greater Fool.

cryo32 5mo ago

You think an investor gives a shit past "if they say this, the numbers will go up"? And the numbers mostly go up because everyone has the same mentality. No one cares about the product any more. And that will be the end of all of this.

jgalt212 5mo ago

The same investor who will buy SpaceX at 250 PE. They are all over the place, hence all the AI washing.

brewdad 5mo ago

It’s the latest version of the meme stock craze. Nobody bought Gamespot stock because they thought it was a good long term investment. They bought it because they thought they could quickly double or triple their money and leave someone holding the bag

nish__ 5mo ago

You might have an investment management firm that has a "tech" portfolio and a separate "clothing" portfolio. By framing themselves as a tech company they'll be put into investors' "tech" portfolio. Clients will say "I think technology is the future; invest in tech companies for me" and the money manager will buy a bunch of shares from the tech portfolio. See how it works?

lifeformed 5mo ago

The truth is that if you get in early enough on a hype train and cash out in time, you will make money. That's enough of a rational basis to participate. The ostensible purpose of it all is basically irrelevant, except as a signal to participate.

etempleton 5mo ago

You have to realize rich people can be stupid too.

surgical_fire 5mo ago

> I'd love to read the mind of an investor that actually falls for this shit Investment is mostly gambling with a coat of paint. It just feels slightly more serious than blackjack.