Supporting What You Own: The Case for Liquidity and Community Capitalism

I have a special form of attachment to crowdfunding and IPOs.

One of my angel investments is getting listed on Nasdaq in a few weeks and I’m particularly happy because I can clearly picture the mass adoption for a brand bringing direct gains to shareholders who can grab a piece on the open market.

Recently invested in an organic brand listed on the stock exchanges here. Now, I stock on their inventory and promote it over alternative products (simply because of the actual attachment to the business).

OpenAI’s recent conversations about an IPO make a ton of sense, too. I own Microsoft and Google shares and am more inclined to support these vs. proprietary businesses (even though MSFT owns 50% or so of OpenAI with the current structure).

As far as the “future of AI” is concerned, public market companies will have a clear gain in that.

Owning a piece of a product you use just hits different. But the illiquidity of angel investments and VC is expensive and hasn’t been wildly motivating over the past 2-3 years.

That’s why I’m also fond of secondaries as a way out, too.

Any opportunities to get listed on a broader market, enable liquidity, offer secondaries, pitch other investors willing to acquire existing assets, and open up larger funds to enable the PR and community army forward are so powerful in today’s world.