Asset class comprising early-stage equity investments in private startups seeking high-growth returns.
1 take · first discussed May 9, 2025
Private company — no public price to score. We track what they said; valuation-mark tracking is on the roadmap.
The only host view supplied comes from Chamath, who holds a high-conviction bearish stance on venture capital as an asset class (as of May 2025). He argues that the prolonged suppression of IPOs combined with blocked M&A activity has choked off the exit pathways that justify VC's illiquidity premium, making expected returns insufficient on a standalone basis. In his view, the only rational framing for continuing to allocate to the asset class is a quasi-philanthropic one rather than a purely financial one. No other hosts' views were provided, so agreement or disagreement across the group cannot be assessed.
Chamath argues that at current course — with IPOs suppressed and M&A blocked — venture capital returns are insufficient to justify the illiquidity premium, making the asset class unjustifiable unless treated almost philanthropically.
I think at current course and speed, with the lack of IPOs and with the lack of M&A, you can't justify that asset class on its own, in my opinion, unless you think about it as something that you're doing almost philanthropically.”1:12:36