"How to invest at a time of very high valuations: evidently you just keep buying stuff & expect it to keep getting more expensive..."Just listened to Bloomberg's Lisa Abromowicz's latest episode of "Money Undercover", where she interviewed a number of players in and around the venture capital space.
Frankly, I found their utter confidence to be utterly concerning!
While, as they fully expect, 2020 may indeed turn out to be everything and more 2019 was, this smacks of the kind of denial of historically high valuations, the denial of debt, and the denial of anything that rejects the notion that trees -- the kind they're making big money from currently -- forever grow to the sky that defined the latter stages of devastating bubbles past.
I found the Q&A with the head of funds at Comcast Ventures to be particularly enlightening (and troubling!).
When asked about present valuations she said:
"There's no questions that valuations are high across the spectrum, but, again, you know, we see that as an opportunity, we at Comcast Ventures see that as an opportunity, because we are increasingly able to bring more than money to the table."
When asked about "lofty" valuations in tech startups in particular she said:
"I do think that you'll see those valuations moderate to some extent in the next year."
Does that mean a washout of some companies folding up, or consolidating?
"No, not necessarily, I think it probably suggests that you're going to have companies that sort of focus more on keeping their heads down and realizing margins that result in profitable growth."
Are there any areas where you are completely avoiding startups?
"Nothing that we're avoiding, but we're certainly seeing a lot that we're excited about."
Two thoughts come to mind: Huh?? and OMG!!
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