Although hated, this comment raises interesting points.
Indeed, kids are given much more freedom and are less "disciplined" than ever before.
At the same time, there's never been so much pressure and coerciveness than right now. You "don't have to take the meds", but you most likely will do that.
These are just anecdotal examples. Hundreds of unmentioned public companies have faced hurtful consequences that unicorns didn't have to worry about.
In the end, what's urgent isn't regulation on their specific industries, but on their practices and obligations as private companies with a massive market capitalization.
Sure, valuations are "tricky", but you could still impose regulations on the amount of invested capital (e.g. only regulate after >U$200M is invested).
Also, stating that `U$1B companies are extreme expert investors` is certainly an overstatement. What often happens is not even reliant on expertise or due diligence, but networks and insider "games".
Regarding unicorns (> U$1 billion valuation), the U.S should implement certain regulations.
These startups have market caps that are larger than thousands of public companies that go through several laws and openly disclosure their financial information.
Not only does this lack information hurt shareholders that are not "part of the club", but also stakeholders that rely on the company in other matters.
>We aren’t a bank yet, but we are applying to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for authorisation to become one.
I don't want to be negative, but this is a huge consideration.
After 2008, unfortunately, regulations have made it much more difficult to incorporate a bank and comply with the law. Is a million enough for that?
Without VC money, startups are led by "culture" (i.e. collective personality and desires of each member of the team). It has amazing results in the long-term.
With VC money, startups replace their culture (seen as irrelevant) by short-term expectations. Pressure , competition and hierarchy are built. Good for short/medium-term valuation. Terrible for long-term commitment.
>We are always wary of guiding for mean reversion. But, if we are wrong and high margins manage to endure for the next few years (particularly when global demand growth is below trend), there are broader questions to be asked about the efficacy of capitalism.
This isn't a criticism of capitalism.
This is an acknowledgment our current "capitalist" financial system isn't able to produce "capitalism" itself.
Anyone in finance that is not ignorant or malicious can see how problematic this is.
American, SV and NYC "entrepreneurship" are mislead by the idea of American exceptionalism.
These are a consequence of EXTREME centralization of global investable capital in select networks. Had it been deployed evenly, you'd see unimaginably terrific ventures across the world.