Tremendous

An angel investor's take on life and business

  • Where Did Sequoia Go Wrong on FTX?

    Sequoia Capital is the greatest venture capital firm of all time. So how did it lose $214 million on FTX?

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    Sequoia made two large investments in the crypto exchange, which went bankrupt earlier this month. Sequoia has since marked down those investments to zero.

    The firm’s top leaders apologized to investors on a call yesterday. From Bloomberg:

    Top partners at the powerful venture capital firm Sequoia Capital apologized to their investors in a conference call Tuesday for backing FTX, a pair of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchanges that had allegedly been mismanaged by Sam Bankman-Fried, according to people familiar with the meeting.

    Despite the mea culpa, Sequoia defended its process:

    Although partners on the call were conciliatory, they also defended the due diligence they conducted on the deal. They said staff reviewed financial statements and asked on multiple occasions about the relationship between FTX and Alameda Research, a trading firm that Bankman-Fried also founded and which reportedly borrowed and lost FTX customers’ money.

    Sequoia is wrong to defend this investment.

    FTX had no board. This despite being valued at over $30 billion and entrusted with hundreds of millions of investor’s money.

    Seed stage companies I invest in routinely form a board when the round closes! This is in line with the best practice recommended by attorneys.

    Benchmark General Partner Bill Gurley said it best:

    Benchmark avoided the crypto FOMO. The partners stuck to their knitting and kept backing real startups.

    Sequoia was not so lucky.

    Indeed, its diligence in other crypto deals appears questionable. From The Wall Street Journal:

    When FTX declared bankruptcy earlier this month, Sequoia also edited another post for a crypto investment called LayerZero. An earlier version said the Sequoia partnership approved the investment just 48 hours after an investment memo was completed. The newer version removed references to the fast decision-making.

    In yesterday’s call, Sequoia said it was considering making startups use Big Four accounting firms in the future. Especially for a huge company like FTX, that’s a no-brainer.

    Like most angels and VC’s, I idolize Sequoia. They’re the best of the best.

    I hope to see them get back to their roots. And if other VC’s want to chase crypto dreams, let them.

    In the words of Sequoia founder Don Valentine:

    “What is important is to have the ability and willingness to be different.”

    Don Valentine


    What do you think of Sequoia’s FTX losses? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    This is the last blog for this week. See you on Monday!

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    More on tech:

    Hedge Funds Lose Billions as FTX Implodes

    Talking FTX, Twitter and Startups at Starta VC

    Getting to $10 Million ARR Without a Series A

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Hedge Funds Lose Billions as FTX Implodes

    Hedge funds trusted crypto exchange FTX with billions of dollars. Now, they stand to lose it all.

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    Some funds have lost most of their assets and may cease to exist. From a report out overnight in the Financial Times:

    Hedge funds have billions of dollars stuck on failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX and could face years of waiting to recover anything at all from a marketplace they once believed to be one of the industry’s most reliable bets.

    “I lost my investors’ money after they put faith in me to manage risk and I am truly sorry for that,” tweeted Travis Kling, founder of Ikigai Asset Management, which has a “large majority” of its hedge fund’s assets stuck on FTX. “I have publicly endorsed FTX many times,” he added. “I was wrong.”

    Other funds, such as Galois Capital, had half or more of their assets on FTX. It could take years to recover those assets, if they’re recoverable at all.

    Crypto exchanges typically hold customers’ money longer than stock brokers. This leaves customers more exposed to problems at the exchange.

    To add insult to injury, hackers may be looting what little money FTX has left. A series of abnormal transactions have vacuumed hundreds of millions out of the bankrupt exchange.

    Rather than place their trust in FTX, hedge funds should’ve used a service like Coinbase Custody.

    Coinbase Custody puts customer assets in segregated cold storage. Its parent company is US-based.

    As a public company, Coinbase has to make disclosures FTX would never dream of. And it even has SOC 2 security certification.

    An exchange like Coinbase is a real, grown-up company. FTX was an amphetamine-fueled commune in a questionable jurisdiction.

    But hey, why not trust them with billions in your investors’ money?

    I expect to see a lot of the funds that did business with FTX shut down. It’s hard to trade when all your money’s gone.

    Investors big and small should be careful about who they do business with. Stick to companies in reputable jurisdictions with the right controls in place.

    It turns out the brave new world of crypto is a lot like the old world: full of scammers. Buyer beware.

    After the implosion of FTX, who do you think is next? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on tech:

    How SBF’s Hedge Fund Imploded

    Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    FTX Blows A Massive Hole in Tiger’s Portfolio

    Note: I have no affiliation with Coinbase.

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Korean Noodle Heaven at Food Gallery 32

    I stepped off the ice cold street into a place I’d never been. This was going to be an amazing meal.

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    Food Gallery 32 sits in the heart of Manhattan’s Koreatown. As you wind through the stalls serving everything from taiyaki to bulgogi, you’d swear you were in a market in Asia.

    My friend and I were pulled toward a noodle stand in the back as if by gravity. The plastic model of a spicy seafood noodle stew looked so good I almost took a bite.

    We both ordered it, and I took a black hockey puck that promised to light up when our noodles were ready. I looked at it expectantly, willing it to erupt in vibration and flashing lights.

    Food Gallery seems small, but seating is actually plentiful if you head upstairs. We found a cozy spot on the second floor and settled in, tense with anticipation.

    Buzz…buzz! The noodles were ready!

    I slowly navigated the stairs with our trays, careful not to spill our noodles. Friendships have ended over less.

    As I began to slurp down the steaming noodles, a grin spread across my face. The piping hot, spicy broth warmed me from the inside.

    I picked shrimp, mussels, and octopus from the bowl as if it were a treasure hunt. The shellfish was fresh, supple, delicious.

    No matter how much I ate, there always seemed to be more! And all for just $13 plus tax.

    Take that, inflation!

    Stuffed, we sat for hours in Food Gallery’s toasty cocoon, chatting and laughing. You can’t help but be merry in a place like this.

    Food Gallery has something for everyone, from pork buns to bubble tea, even karaoke! Stop in for a taste of what’s best about New York.

    What’s your favorite spot for Korean food? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on food:

    The Best Mexican Food Is In…New Jersey?

    New Jersey’s Jelly Donut Heaven

    Move Over, Cake Boss: There’s a New Sheriff in Town

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • How SBF’s Hedge Fund Imploded

    Let’s say I create $1 million worth of Frankcoin. Will you loan me $1 million with my Frankcoin as collateral? 

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    Not if you’re in your right mind, you won’t. But that’s exactly what lenders did for Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research. 

    From a report out this morning in The New York Times:

     …Alameda, which held a large stake in the token, began using its FTT holdings as collateral for more loans to facilitate its trading activities. 

    Like Frankcoin, FTT had no real value. It was created out of thin air by SBF.

    This didn’t stop Alameda from making bold claims in a presentation to lenders:

    …it could offer lenders “high returns with no risk” and “no downside.”

    At this point, lenders should’ve known this was BS. There are no returns without risk. 

    Anyone guaranteeing you a return is a fraud. Con artists, Bernie Madoff among them, love to promise you a sure thing. 

    Perhaps these lenders were blinded by the big returns Alameda promised. 

    For years, this house of cards stood. But as crypto came under pressure this year, Alameda’s fraud became harder to conceal:

    With crypto prices falling, more lenders wanted their money back. The falling prices also reduced the value of FTT, which Alameda had used as collateral for some loans. As the firm struggled to pay lenders back, FTX resorted to using funds that customers had deposited with the exchange for ease of trading to pay Alameda’s lenders back.

    What can we learn from this, as investors? 

    Never believe anyone who says they can guarantee you a return. There are no guarantees. 

    Don’t call something someone invented an asset. It’s funny money. 

    And never let the promise of riches blind you to reality. 

    What do you think of FTX and Alameda’s collapse? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know! 

    Have a great weekend everyone! 

    More on tech:

    Talking FTX, Twitter and Startups at Starta VC

    Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    FTX Blows A Massive Hole in Tiger’s Portfolio

    Get the blog before anyone else…subscribe!

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Getting to $10 Million ARR Without a Series A

    Christina Cacioppo built Vanta into a $10 million a year business in just 4 years. Even more impressive, she did it without raising a Series A. But how?

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    In an excellent talk at LAUNCH’s Founder University, Christina shares the secrets of capital efficient growth.

    Vanta is a SaaS company that helps startups with security audits. These audits, like SOC2 and HIPAA, are a must to land big customers.

    Vanta had an unbeatable value proposition. Instead of taking months or even a year for SOC2 certification, Vanta could do it in weeks.

    Word spread quickly among startup founders. This was fortunate — Christina didn’t have any money for marketing anyway!

    Soon, customers were almost ripping the product out of Christina’s hands.

    Another advantage of having such an in-demand product was that Vanta could charge annually, upfront. This meant predictable revenue and let Vanta avoid a sudden cash crunch that could force it to raise capital.

    Vanta stayed frugal. Coffee came from Costco, not an in-house barista.

    What little money Christina had, she spent on great employees.

    She spent most of her time on recruiting. Christina knew that the right people would make or break Vanta.

    By early 2021, Christina finally started raising that Series A. By then, she was clear on what the money could do and what it couldn’t.

    Money alone couldn’t build a product customers wanted. Nor could it find Vanta’s ideal customer.

    That’s why Christina and her team did that before they raised!

    When the Series A came, it was a doozy. Vanta pulled in $50 million at a $500 million valuation, led by Sequoia.

    Earlier this year, Vanta became a unicorn, raising at a $1.6 billion valuation.

    Vanta’s strategy makes a ton of sense. Every day, I see founders beating their heads against the wall trying to raise money.

    But they fail because they have few , if any, customers. Some don’t even have a product.

    These founders are putting the cart before the horse. Build something awesome and cold e-mail some prospects.

    Once you have a few paying customers, fundraising will get 10 times easier.

    What do you think of Christina’s experience with Vanta? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on tech:

    Why I Love B2B Startups

    Talking FTX, Twitter and Startups at Starta VC

    Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    Get the blog before anyone else…subscribe!

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: Vanta Founder & CEO Christina Cacioppo

  • Why I Love B2B Startups

    Last year, most of my investments were consumer startups. But in 2022, I’ve done a 180.

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    Of the 11 investments I’ve made so far this year, all but 2 are selling software to businesses. So why the about face?

    Over the last year, I’ve noticed that many of my best performing investments sell Business to Business Software as a Service (B2B SaaS or just SaaS). Meanwhile, some of my consumer investments have struggled.

    Here are some of the unique advantages of SaaS:

    1) Less churn.

    Consumers are fickle. We try a service for a while, say “meh,” and cancel.

    But businesses don’t sign up for new software without thinking it through. And once they start using it, they’re much less likely to cancel.

    Changing software tools disrupts their business. So if you’re product is solid, you’ll probably have a customer long term.

    A good Enterprise SaaS company might have churn of 1-2% a month. But even a strong consumer company is likely to see 3-5% churn.

    If your customers churn at 5% a month, you have to rebuild your company from scratch every 2 years. A SaaS company doesn’t have to do that.

    This is a huge advantage.

    2) Land and expand. SaaS companies have a unique ability to grow…even without signing new customers!

    How the heck do they do that? By doing more business with the customers they have!

    Let’s take Density as an example. Density is an awesome startup that sells sensors to measure how people use physical spaces.

    Let’s say LinkedIn buys Density to track how its headquarters is used. It’s so helpful that they expand it to their New York office, paying Density even more!

    That’s land and expand.

    The best SaaS companies can grow at 50% a year without signing a single new customer. And that’s after accounting for their churn.

    This rarely happens in consumer. I’m only going to buy one Paramount Plus subscription, no matter how much I love Beavis and Butthead!

    3) You can afford a sales team.

    I pay $5/month for Paramount Plus. My value as a customer is way too low for Paramount to have a sales team contact me.

    They just have to hope I show up.

    But SaaS subscriptions cost a lot more. This means they can afford a sales team to go find customers.

    That makes bringing in new business a lot easier!

    This is especially important now that online ads, the most likely alternative, aren’t working well. Apple’s removal of ad tracking made targeting difficult, drastically reducing their effectiveness.

    So does this mean I’m only doing SaaS from here on out? Absolutely not.

    But I’m focusing on consumer companies with a clear value proposition. An example would be a marketplace like Gauge, which makes it way easier to sell your car for a great price.

    I’m avoiding social media startups. The sector is more hit driven and the value prop for customers is a lot less clear.

    Do you prefer SaaS or consumer? And why?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on tech:

    Talking FTX, Twitter and Startups at Starta VC

    Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    Bridge Rounds: The Path to Riches?

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: “candy hearts” by jamz196 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

  • Talking FTX, Twitter and Startups at Starta VC

    Last week, I had a chance to do one of my favorite things: chat with awesome entrepreneurs!

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    The venue was Starta VC, an early-stage venture firm based in New York City. Their accelerator brings great entrepreneurs from abroad to the US for an intensive program on building startups, American-style.

    These young founders asked some great questions. Some interesting moments:

    1:25: Sector-specific investors vs. generalists

    2:14: FTX collapse

    5:24: How angel syndicates work.

    7:13: A trick I stole from Benchmark.

    7:53: How I choose startups.

    12:41: What’s going on in today’s market.

    16:40: The one thing founders should never do.

    24:33: Big Tech layoffs.

    30:09: How to write cold emails that actually get a response.

    33:41: Why AR will beat the metaverse.

    42:17: Elon and the Twitter deal.

    Thanks to Starta for the invite!

    What part did you like most? What did I get wrong?

    Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    There will be no blog tomorrow. I have an acting gig.

    See you on Wednesday!

    More on tech:

    Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    FTX Blows A Massive Hole in Tiger’s Portfolio

    Is It Time for a Startup Hiring Spree?

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

  • Is SBF Headed to Prison?

    Crypto exchange FTX is spiraling toward bankruptcy. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, could be facing prison.

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    The SEC is investigating whether FTX misused customer funds. From Bloomberg:

    The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating whether the firm properly handled customer funds, as well as its relationship with other parts of Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, including his trading house Alameda Research, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Officials from the Justice Department also are working with SEC attorneys, one of the people said. 


    This investigation has gone on for months, long before FTX teetered on the edge of insolvency.

    At issue is SBF’s numerous interests. He founded the FTX exchange, its American counterpart FTX US, and crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.

    FTX may have improperly moved client money between them. SBF could’ve been trying to plug a hole in another part of his empire.

    To see how flagrantly illegal this is, let’s use an old economy example. Imagine if Bank of America also had a hedge fund.

    When the hedge fund is struggling, Bank of America raids your checking account to make up the difference. See the problem?

    If this is true, SBF could be facing years in prison.

    With his empire in flames and the feds circling, SBF may go on the lam like Do Kwon, founder of Terra. It would be a stunning turnabout for a man whose net worth was $15 billion on Monday.

    What do you think the future holds for FTX and SBF? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    There will be no blog tomorrow in honor of Veteran’s Day. Have a great weekend and see you on Monday! 👋

    More on tech:

    FTX Blows A Massive Hole in Tiger’s Portfolio

    Hedge Fund Giant Losing $40 Million a Day

    VC’s Sour on China — Funding Down 44%

    Get the blog before anyone else…subscribe!

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

  • FTX Blows A Massive Hole in Tiger’s Portfolio

    It’s going from bad to worse at Tiger Global Management. As crypto exchange FTX implodes, Tiger could lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

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    From a new report in Forbes:

    Tiger Global Management appears to have just taken another hit.

    The hedge fund headed by billionaire Chase Coleman has been among the most prominent investors in Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange.

    On Tuesday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that his firm was buying FTX’s non-U.S. businesses to rescue it from what he said was a “significant liquidity crunch.”

    The hedge fund giant made multiple, huge investments in FTX:

    Tiger was part of a group of investors in FTX’s January Series C round that valued the company at $32 billion. It previously also participated in a Series B round that valued FTX at $25 billion. During that raise, FTX took a page out of Elon Musk’s playbook by raising exactly $420.69 million.


    Both the Series B and C raised about $400 million. A giant like Tiger would likely have written checks of at least $100 million in each of those rounds.

    I’ve seen Tiger in numerous deals, and their typical check size was $100 million or more.

    Now, Tiger will likely take a total loss on its FTX stake. Binance is expected to buy the exchange for essentially nothing, simply assuming its liabilities.

    This means Tiger could be looking at hundreds of millions of dollars, up in smoke.

    This comes at what’s already a terrible time for Tiger Global. Its fund is down 55% for the year, with losses accelerating last month.

    Meanwhile, it has only marked down its private portfolio by 8%. That is far too little given the huge losses in the NASDAQ, which means more markdowns to come.

    Could this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back? Only time will tell.

    But even without the implosion of FTX, I expect Tiger to liquidate.

    Its fund must more than double to get back to its high point and start charging performance fees again. Those fees make up most of a hedge fund manager’s pay.

    Tiger has taken huge losses in both public and private markets. Why does anyone still trust them with their money?

    Were I an investor in Tiger, I’d be dumping every cent of it yesterday.

    What do you think the future holds for Tiger? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on markets:

    Hedge Fund Giant Losing $40 Million a Day

    Tiger Global Down 52% — Losses Over $18 Billion

    Hedge Fund Manager’s Arrest Shows How Market Manipulation Works

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    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

  • Hedge Fund Giant Losing $40 Million a Day

    The bloodletting continues at hedge fund giant Tiger Global Management. The fund lost approximately $40 million a day in October.

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    From a new report in the Financial Times:

    Losses at Tiger Global Management continued to mount in October after the New York-based hedge fund was buffeted by the whipsawing value of technology stocks in the US and a sell-off in China.

    The firm’s flagship hedge fund lost 5.4 per cent in October, taking losses this year to a new low of 54.7 per cent, according to a person with knowledge of the figures.

    Tiger managed about $17 billion in assets at midyear. With October’s 21 trading days, that 5% loss amounts to roughly $40 million per day or over $6,000,000 per hour.

    The NASDAQ index of technology stocks rose slightly last month. This underscores Tiger’s abysmal stock picking.

    Tiger’s losses may be even worse than they appear.

    Its $40 billion portfolio of private tech startups dwarfs its public holdings. Tiger values those companies itself.

    Has Tiger really taken markdowns commensurate with its huge losses in public stocks?

    I doubt it. Why make a bad situation look even worse?

    The end game for Tiger is liquidation.

    Their fund would have to more than double just to get back to its high point. Only then could the partners start collecting that juicy 20% performance fee again.

    That fat fee is the biggest prize in hedgefundland. You can bet these traders won’t want to give it up.

    If Tiger liquidates and the partners start a new fund, they can start charging performance fees on day one. The slate is clean!

    If I were an investor in Tiger, I’d be dumping my shares. These losses are huge and show no signs of improving.

    Why pay Tiger’s fees when you can park your money in a low fee index fund instead?

    What do you think the future holds for Tiger? Leave a comment at the bottom and let me know!

    More on markets:

    Tiger Global Down 52% — Losses Over $18 Billion

    Hedge Fund Manager’s Arrest Shows How Market Manipulation Works

    VC’s Sour on China — Funding Down 44%

    Get the blog before anyone else…subscribe!

    If you found this post interesting, please share it on Twitter/Reddit/etc. This helps more people find the blog! 

    Save Money on Stuff I Use:

    Fundrise

    This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

    More on Fundrise in this post.

    If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

    Misfits Market

    I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

    I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

    Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order. 

    Photo: Tiger Global CEO Chase Coleman