Notes from the Metaverse
McDonald’s is the latest Consumer brand to enter the Metaverse.
Microsoft is acquiring more than just a AAA gaming studio with their Blizzard Activision deal, they will own the patent to authenticating objects in the Metaverse.
“Arguably, something like the metaverse might already exist in an early form, courtesy of video games. Roblox and Fortnite host millions. Microsoft Flight Simulator has created a 2.5 petabyte digital copy of the world, including real-time flight and weather data.”
Disney has hired a head of Metaverse strategy. This this another in a long line of steps the entertainment giant has taken to position itself in Web3. They backed AR/VR device startup Color and have recently filed a slew of patents for digital assets IP. The BBC report has more:
In a memo to staff, which has been seen by the BBC, chief executive Bob Chapek said the metaverse is "the next great storytelling frontier" to be explored.
Technology giants, including Facebook owner Meta and Microsoft, are pouring billions of dollars into the metaverse.
In the memo, Mr Chapek described the metaverse as a "perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of storytelling excellence, innovation, and audience focus".
"Teams across the company are exploring this new canvas, and I have been blown away by what I've seen," he said.
Even with that, People still don't understand the Metaverse…
Private Markets Quick Hits
Sorry I-Banks, PE pay hits record level.
The SEC is making waves with a number of proposals for Advisor transparency in Private Investments. Sharing a few different takes on it, below:
Institutional Investor: The SEC Unveils Its Plan to Bring Private Funds in Check
National Law Review: SEC Proposes Radical Changes to Practices for Private Funds
Axios: Private equity split on new SEC rules
Here’s a helpful summary from Gibson & Dunn
On the VC front, AI/ML is the hottest tech segment, covering everything from extracting data from documents to build practical databases, to understanding and emulating humans.
Public Markets
With inflation running around 7%, it’s easy to hate on cash as an investment….but hold on just a minute. Making zero percent in cash looks pretty good compared to stocks (-6%), bonds (-3.5%) or bitcoin (-5%). We also have two large countries on the brink of war, the Fed now threatening to raise rates SEVEN times this year and massive companies like Shopify and FB/Meta absolutely bombing on earnings.
Us at 25
The financial media likes to post articles with titles like “The Best Place to Invest $10,000 Today,” or “Seven Stocks That Could 10x.” When you see clickbait headlines like this, don’t waste your time—in fact, run the other way!
The world is full of snake oil salesmen, whether it’s multi level marketing schemes, fad diets or miracle vitamins. Think about this…if you had a really good idea of what stocks would 10x, would you fire up Google Docs and start writing an article about them? Uhh..no. You’d be doing everything in your power to raise a fund and charge performance fees.
You want to know where the best way to invest $10,000 when you are 25? Spend it on your physical and mental health. Or use it to surround yourself with smart/motivated people that push you to be better.
This probably sounds like lame advice but let’s do the math. If you spend $5k to move from othe 50th percentile of physical fitness to the 10th percentile, that will pay dividends for decades. Healthcare costs in 2050 will probably be multiples higher than they are today, so it’s easy to see how that $5k investment saves you $250k in your 40s and 50s. Spend the other $5k to join the chamber of commerce, buy breakfast for a local businessman 2x/month for five years. You’ll have a network that will feed you career options, solid advice, connections & business deals. Easy to see how that $5k turns into $500k (if not $5 million).