It's the valuation that is wild to me (I think the idea itself has merit). But these are the new economics. I can only say "that's wild" enough before it is in fact no longer wild.
These aren't new economics, it's just VC funds trying to boost their holdings by saying it's worth X because they said so. Frankly the FTC should make it illegal.
Of course it's how it works, how else do you justify a company that is making negative profit into some how being worth $300M? Like that's just the game, IDK why people accept it. It's not democratic and all it does it prime the population for fraud and abuse.
I don't need to "play the game" to realize private valuations are just marketing fluff not based in reality. It's literally "the greater fool" theory in action. When the incentives are to just lie and not put out something with some actual scrutiny like a 409A, it's quite clear what game is being played.
But yes, I would totally love to invest in startups with people's pension funds. It seems like the perfect scam where the only losers are the public that allows such actions.
That is where I’m shocked being in a position of raising for a startup myself, what was in their pitch deck/data room that convinced them of this valuation? Or is it due to the founders reputation and not the substance?
That's not impressive. That's an incredible amount concentrated in the hands of a few looking for a place to live. It has to end up somewhere. Some of it goes everywhere.