Podcast Summary
How Linqto is democratizing private equity investment: Linqto provides accredited investors with an opportunity to invest in private companies like Ripple, Kraken, Whoop, Just, and others. This episode offers valuable insights on navigating the current private equity environment and gaining knowledge in investment banking.
Investment banking can take different forms like debt capital markets, equity capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, or advising companies seeking some sort of exit by matching an investor to an investment. Darin Soat, the director of Content at Linqto, talks about the mechanics of investing in private equity through Linqto and how democratization of private equity is changing. Darin emphasizes the importance of Linqto as a resource for accredited investors to purchase equity in private companies like Ripple, Kraken, Whoop, Just, and others. He also talks about the current environment for private equity and how billionaires like Howard Marks are navigating it. In summary, this episode provides valuable insights for investors to gain knowledge in private equity and investment banking.
Exploring the Role of Investment Banking and Private Equity in Acquisitions: Investment banking provides liquidity to investors but comes with high fees. Private equity ranges from early to late stage, and acquisition decisions should consider profitability potential and existing infrastructure. Consider doing own diligence or hiring professionals to avoid high fees.
Investment banking provides liquidity to those who have investments in current companies, but Warren Buffet is critical of the high fees charged for the value provided. Private equity is ownership in a privately held company and can range from early stage seed to late stage series rounds. One Medical may have been acquired for cash flow reasons, but they had the potential to be profitable and make sense with existing infrastructure. Investment bankers create pitch decks and advertise them to private equity funds and strategic buyers, but their contribution may not provide enough value for the high fees charged. Warren Buffet can do his own diligence or hire outside professionals instead of relying on investment bankers.
Making private equity accessible to accredited investors with Linqto.: Linqto offers a low-entry fee compared to competitors, allowing accredited investors to invest in billion-dollar companies. To get a meaningful measure of cash flow, depreciation and amortization should be included in EBITDA.
Linqto is a platform that allows accredited investors to invest $10,000 in billion-dollar companies or more, usually backed by venture capital. They provide a low-entry fee compared to their competitors, who typically require an entry point of $100,000. Private equity, in simple terms, is private ownership in a company. EBITDA is used to standardize earnings across multiple industries, but Warren Buffet is against the idea as depreciation and amortization are real costs that should be factored in. When comparing similar companies in industries that require any sort of capital expenditures, you need to include depreciation and amortization to get a meaningful measure of cash flow. Joining Linqto was based on the observation that only accredited investors had access to private equity investments, even though investment professionals in private equity firms are really smart and the brightest in understanding industries.
Linqto democratizes private equity investment.: Linqto enables accredited investors to invest in billion-dollar private companies without high fees and provides liquidity to VC funds. Making private equity accessible to all investors promotes a more equitable investment environment.
Linqto aims to provide retail access to private equity investment classes typically used by big funds. They buy shares from VC funds and resell them, allowing any accredited investor to invest in billion-dollar or more companies without paying high management and carried fees. Companies are staying private for longer due to the pressure of going public, pushing for profitability, and compressed stock prices. Venture capitalists want companies to grow and increase equity value rather than profitability. Linqto provides liquidity to VCs and allows retail investors to see the potential upside of private companies that may not necessarily plan to go public. Making private equity available for all investors creates a more fair investment landscape.
Linqto's Platform Offers Discounted Shares of Private Companies: Linqto helps private companies and investors by offering discounted shares of trusted companies that have a stable valuation and a short runway to IPO. This provides additional capital for companies to invest in other ventures.
Private companies are staying private longer due to pressure from Wall Street investors and macro headwinds that result in a decline in their value. Linqto, a platform that sells shares of private companies at a discount, looks for trusted names behind the company, stable valuation, and a short runway to IPO. They acquire shares at a discount because VC funds shuffle around their capital to rebalance their portfolios. For companies that have already seen a return on investment, Linqto helps them realize that return by selling their shares at a discount. This provides additional capital for them to invest in other companies. Linqto's strategy offers an advantage to both companies and investors.
Linqto's SPV Offers Retail Investors a Unique Chance to Invest in Equities: Linqto enables retail investors to invest in equity without affecting a company's cap table. Investors receive proportional shares based on their investment. Linqto operates in private equity and is working on a feature for pre-IPO share selling.
Linqto buys shares of companies through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and sells ownership in the SPV to retail investors. This allows retail investors to invest in equity without cluttering the company's cap table, which is important for VC-backed companies. Investors receive an allocation of shares directly proportional to the amount they invest in the SPV. Currently, investors are locked up until a liquidity event occurs, although Linqto is working on a feature to allow selling of shares before the company goes public. Linqto's platform operates in the private equity space rather than VC, but there is a trend towards democratizing VC investment with companies like Start Engine.
Balancing access and protection in private markets for mom and pop investors.: Private markets may offer higher returns, but it's important to protect investors from overpriced equity. Following smart VCs and avoiding overfunded companies can level the playing field.
Private markets continue to outperform public markets, and the increasing size of private markets is leading to the argument that mom and pop investors should also have exposure to this investment class. However, allowing unaccredited investors to invest in venture-backed companies may lead to driving up the price of equity beyond its fundamental value. Hence, it is important to strike a balance between protecting investors and providing them with access to profitable investments. Nonetheless, tagging onto investments made by smart VCs, like Jason Holtz and Lightspeed, can help level the playing field. It is important to ensure that funds raised by venture-backed companies do not exceed their needs to avoid overpriced equity that doesn't yield good returns.
Private Equity: Opportunities and Risks for Investors: Private equity provides opportunities for investors looking for alternative investments, but it comes with inherent risks, including fraud. However, venture-backed companies may perform better during economic crises, making them an intriguing option for investors.
There is a demand for capital in the private equity space and McKinsey estimates it could double within the next three years. Alternative investments tend to be more resilient during economic downturns. Fraud should not be accepted as the operating standard in private equity, but there is an inherent level of risk with private and public companies. Higher rates in the cost of capital may drive enterprise values down. Venture-backed companies tend to perform better during economic crises compared to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite. Overall, there are opportunities for retail investors to invest in alternative investments, especially private equity.
The role of venture capital funds in recessions and the introduction of the NAV loan.: During recessions, venture capital funds prioritize nursing their portfolio companies and utilize products like the NAV loan to increase liquidity. However, this loan may be impacted by economic challenges like high-interest rates or crises.
During recessions, venture capital funds tend to focus on nursing their portfolio companies rather than deploying capital on new ones. They allocate their capital to make sure that their existing investments stay afloat. This practice helps them to raise larger funds in the future and maintain good relationships with their investors. One of the interesting products in the market is the net asset value (NAV) loan which allows private equity firms to take loans against their portfolio companies. This product is relatively new, and it enables the companies to maximize their returns by increasing liquidity. It has advantages, but it might be challenging in times of high-interest rates or economic crises.
Offering NAV Loans in Private Equity: Benefits and Risks: Private equity firms can benefit from offering net asset value loans, but must be mindful of potential liquidity crises and market trends. Such loans may signal confidence in the economy, but require thorough due diligence.
Offering net asset value loans can enhance returns for private equity firms, but it could lead to a liquidity crisis and force them to sell portfolio companies at a huge discount. The oversupply of Airbnb properties due to the pandemic has driven down rentals, making it difficult for homeowners to manage their mortgages. This oversupply could lead to a cascading effect, causing individuals to liquidate assets. Oak Tree, being a conservative group, making such loans could potentially signal that the group does not believe a deep recession is around the corner. Though no one knows for sure the future of the market, offering such loans may indicate due diligence of factors such as cash flows and market trends.
Higher Interest Rates and the Crypto Industry's Bankruptcy: While higher interest rates and economic recessions can impact various industries, companies with strong fundamentals can still thrive with the help of private equity funds. It's important to evaluate the overall health of the economy rather than just one industry's struggles.
Higher interest rates and tightening policies by the Federal Reserve can lead to companies that shouldn't exist to go bankrupt. The crypto industry has been the only casualty so far due to mismanagement of capital and lack of sound business models. However, it's too early to tell if there will be any contagion effect beyond the crypto industry. The recession, if it happens, could impact other industries as well. It's important to evaluate the health of the economy overall rather than simply defining if it's in a recession or not. Companies with strong fundamentals can still thrive even in a high interest rate environment and private equity funds can provide loans to help them scale up.
Layoffs in the Tech Industry: The Impact of Cheap Capital and Large Employee Numbers: The trend of layoffs in major tech companies is likely to expand to other sectors as well. The Federal Reserve may prioritize price stability over maximum employment, despite its dual mandate. The textbook response to supply-side issues is to let them resolve themselves.
The layoffs in major tech companies like Facebook and Amazon are a result of the inefficiency that comes with cheap capital and large employee numbers. This trend of layoffs is not unique to the tech industry and is likely to expand to other companies as well. The Federal Reserve's dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment may come into conflict, but in such situations, they tend to prioritize price stability. The Federal Reserve is trying their best to manage the current economic situation, but they have made mistakes, such as seeing inflation as a transitory issue. However, the textbook response to supply-side issues is to let them resolve themselves.
The Federal Reserve's Tough Position on High Inflation and Interest Rates: The Federal Reserve aims to restore the strength of the dollar by bringing inflation levels back to 2%, despite criticism. Aggressive monetary policies can negatively impact developing countries that borrow in foreign currencies. Slowing the speed of spending can combat inflation caused by a combination of supply chain issues and excess liquidity.
The Federal Reserve has a tough position when responding to high inflation and high interest rates. Despite criticism from organizations like the United Nations and Kathy Wood, the Federal Reserve will do what it takes to restore the strength of the dollar and bring inflation levels back into the 2%. However, their aggressive monetary policies, such as rate hikes, can negatively impact developing countries that borrow in foreign currencies, especially when the dollar strengthens. Inflation is driven by money velocity, which can be slowed by decreasing the speed of spending. It's a combination of supply chain issues and excess liquidity that can cause inflation, and Jamie Diamond argues that putting $6 trillion into the economy will lead to inflation.
Turning a Hobby into a Second Job: Finding Success on YouTube and Beyond: Starting a hobby experiment can become a lucrative source of income with the right tools. Streamlining production, building a strong brand, and pursuing accredited investments are key to success. Explore opportunities on Linqto.com.
Starting an experiment as a hobby can turn into a second job for individuals, especially when they can leverage their skills and interests. YouTube channels can be made more efficient by streamlining the video production process using stock footage and hiring an editor to assist with video creation. With consistent content production and growth in subscribers, individuals can turn their hobby into a resource that can generate income. Strong personal and company brands, created using websites and social media platforms, can drive traffic and lead to investments and other opportunities. Investing in accredited assets and businesses can provide valuable financial returns, and accredited investors can find such opportunities on Linqto.com.
