A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC • Hacker News Board

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#241

Post by rattray » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 2:46 PM UTC

kenneth wrote: post #174

jakequist wrote: post #65

tl;dr - A16Z is reclassifying themselves as an "investment advisor", which will allow them to make riskier bets (crypto, real estate, etc). They'll still invest in startups like any other VC firm.

I feel like there's some misunderstanding of what these terms are. All VCs are investment advisors (either Exempt Reporting Advisors or Registered Investment Advisor depending on assets under management and investment types). The article is vague in what it actually means, but it sounds to me like A16Z is going through the process of giving up its VC exemption to the Investment Advisers Act and registering as a RIA.…

What is an RIA?

I know what these things are: hedge fund, private equity, wealth management, venture capital.

Which is A16Z now closest to? Or is there a class of financial firm I'm not aware of?

Edit: I'm also curious, does this place any material restrictions on their startup investment activity?

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#242

Post by arisAlexis » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 2:49 PM UTC

dzhiurgis wrote: post #134

Of everyone I follow it seems it’s only a16z still believes in crypto.

care to share your list? because everyone I follow (jack, woz, YC, winkl bros, naval, draper VC,sergey and others) are pretty much allin block/coins

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#243

Post by arisAlexis » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

zby wrote: post #130

chrisco255 wrote: post #50

Skepticism might be warranted, but it should be noted by now that decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet and it's not going away. I strongly encourage technologists to keep an open mind and do in depth research into the space. Yes, 2017 was over-hyped. The tech was not mature then, and while it has matured some since then, there's still quite a ways to go. Bitcoin Lightning network…

The problem with decentralized money is that there is no way to manage the supply - you can only commit to a given supply curve, but you cannot adjust it according to the state of the economy. Money is a collective action problem, a public good - it requires a solution that bounds everyone - just like defence.

that's a feature to combat hyperinflation. to whoch country's economy would it be adjusted to if its a global financial instrument? individual currencies will be adjusted for sure. Bitcoin can act like a global Gold reserve

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#244

Post by dmix » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 2:58 PM UTC

blfr wrote: post #157

chrisco255 wrote: post #50

Skepticism might be warranted, but it should be noted by now that decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet and it's not going away. I strongly encourage technologists to keep an open mind and do in depth research into the space. Yes, 2017 was over-hyped. The tech was not mature then, and while it has matured some since then, there's still quite a ways to go. Bitcoin Lightning network…

decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet There is no guarantee that decentralized anything has a place in the future. So far the trends have been depressingly centralizing, whether it's government, finance, manufacturing, or even our great hope, the Internet.

The costs of centralization is starting to seep into people’s day to day life though. People tend not to act to abstract threats but rather tangible issues.

Tech people have been warning about this forever because they have a strong grasp of the consequences and they also better understand what we have (or had) with the internet and other parts of the economy and politics.

I’m starting to see far more ‘regular’ people outside of tech concerned about the top down centralization of communication and payment networks.

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#245

Post by slg » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 2:59 PM UTC

dd36 wrote: post #221

stale2002 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we would see similar sized investments in open and decentralized platforms focused on free speech This is already a mostly solved problem. There are lots and lots of places on the internet, when I can engage in speech and it won't be censored. Yes, the big platforms might censor you, but there are still lots and lots of small platforms that won't or can't.

What free speech is he referring to? The only speech I know of that has been censored is terrorist groups. It makes me uncomfortable when I see people here complaining about that.

Since you brought it up, I would generally agree with you and am not too concerned about free speech on the internet. More than just terrorist groups are being censored, but all of the speech that I have seen disenfranchised has been speech that is in my opinion objectionable in one way or another.

A lot of people in the US don't seem to realize how extreme we are as a country when it comes to free speech. We fetishize free speech in a way that I feel is not healthy. I don't think any country's laws are perfect in this regard, but all the other western democracies seem to be just fine with their laws against things like hate speech. I don't see how the US allowing hate speech is beneficial to the country or its people.

This opinion tends to be an unpopular on HN and I figured I would meet the original OP on their terms.

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#246

Post by thinkmassive » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 3:13 PM UTC

phamilton wrote: post #225

xtracto wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hasn't been my experience. I pay some services with BTC via CryptoPay and is really fast. What is the alternative? Card? 2% + .3 fee. That's expensive. ACH? takes 5 days to be processed. What is the fast, cheap digital alternative?

Venmo and the like. Any ledger will work just fine if it's built for fast payments. That ledger doesn't need to be distributed and/or decentralized. Solving trust is an oversold benefit of BTC in my opinion.

Solving trust is the only benefit of Bitcoin, but I think you’re underestimating the importance of financial sovereignty.

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#247

Post by ALittleLight » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 3:13 PM UTC

rattray wrote: post #236

smallgovt wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting this is the top voted comment when it isn't really substantive to the article's subject matter.

As a would-be founder, this new move from A16Z makes me worry they won't focus on helping startups like this anymore. Anecdotes like this help quell that fear a bit, even if wrongly.

Why would you want to wrongly quell a fear?

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#248

Post by mattnewport » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 3:15 PM UTC

The investment returns on the funds sounded unimpressive given the time period. I found some info online from the WSJ suggesting the first fund was on track to return around 250% since 2009. Just investing in the NASDAQ would have returned over 500% over that same period. Am I missing something here or is the performance as unimpressive as it appears?

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#249

Post by arisAlexis » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

googlemike wrote: post #4

seibelj wrote: post #2

A16Z’s unapologetic bet on cryptocurrency and blockchain companies is big for the industry. As crypto heats up again and blockchain 3.0 projects emerge (Cosmos, Polkadot, Ethereum Proof of Stake) VC will help legitimize the industry.

Can you provide a single problem where the right solution space is blockchain? Ive thought about this a good amount, and cannot come up with a single use case where current established centralized technology is not a better solution.

public tracking of government money. public ledgers have been used since ancient Athens. This one can be tamper proof. Second public tracking of charity and how the money reaches correct targets and how it is spent.

Re: A16Z is re-registering as a financial advisor, renouncing its status as a VC

#250

Post by thinkmassive » Wed, Apr 03, 2019, 3:20 PM UTC

notyourday wrote: post #191

chrisco255 wrote: post #50

Skepticism might be warranted, but it should be noted by now that decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet and it's not going away. I strongly encourage technologists to keep an open mind and do in depth research into the space. Yes, 2017 was over-hyped. The tech was not mature then, and while it has matured some since then, there's still quite a ways to go. Bitcoin Lightning network…

Decentralized finance is a myth. Governments only exist because they control the money on behalf of the country. Decentralization of finance would remove that control and hence fundamentally undermine the governments control

Substitute “religion” for “finance” and the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages would agree with you.