Venture Verite: The Facebook IPO: too little, too late.
beautifully said by tdagres - read the whole thing:
Not so many Years ago, 1970’s to 2000, companies such as Cisco, Intel, Apple, Starbucks, Home Depot, and Federal Express would go public and the vast majority of their appreciation would be after the IPO. Small Investors were able to enjoy this value creation. Naturally there was a risk of losing money. Of course some companies acted badly and people lost money. Without risk there is lifted upside. They are two sides of the same coin. But a lot of people changed their lives by making smart investments in a host of great little companies that became big, valuable companies. Today, this investment opportunity doesn’t exist. Investing in great little Companies is limited to Institutional Investors and rich people. That’s not the way it should be in a Country that prides itself on freedom, opportunity and equality.
So the notion that the Government knows best and is effective at helping Citizens invest and manage their wealth is debatable at best. In a free Country that is characterized by opportunity and freedom, protecting School Teachers, Plumbers and Bartenders from investing in high-growth companies seems counter-productive. I am in favor of protecting the Public from wrong-doing and bad intentions but not at the current expense. Preventing the average person from access to the massive value creation that is occurring before IPOs is limiting upward mobility and keeping small investors small.
Source: tdagres
I think, therefore...
