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Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

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121–130 of 139 posts

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#121
post #55

I think the coming of companies like this signals the end of the bull market, the bubble is close to bursting. Every milkman is trying to get rich on the stock market. It was like this in 99. It was like this in 08. And before the german mark fell. "Side by side with the wealth were the pockets of poverty. Greater numbers of people remained on the outside of the easy money, looking in but not able to enter. The crime…

How are you positioned to take advantage of this? What's your portfolio like?

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#122
post #108

Alinea is also a three-Michelin star restaurant in Chicago. I don't think names need to be 100% unique, but in the case of targeting wealthy investors - I'd assume they're one of the most likely groups of people to already think of "Alinea" as a restaurant. Plus, Alinea is involved heavily involved in tech via Tock.

It's also an extremely common word in Spanish meaning "align" – which in the context of their brand can be taken to mean to align oneself to a set of beliefs.

Wikipedia claims (without a citation) that the restaurant's name comes from a symbol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alinea_(restaurant)

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#123
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we are seeing that retail investors aren't doing any research at all > EBITDA is important and it's a hard concept to understand for those who aren't familiar with finance Is there any proof that the later group has better outcomes ? Even if you understand all the terms, aren't you ultimately just investing based on gut feeling since all the observable information has already been factored into the purchase price a…

Except, of course, not all observable information has been factored into the purchase price.

> not all observable information has been factored into the purchase price.

Why wouldn't it already be priced into the current stock price?

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#124
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you believe WSB is "taking down" hedgefunds instead of "being played like a fiddle" by them, you should probably take a second look.

Could you give an example? Market making firms have done really well due to wsb and the increase of retail volumes but it's unclear to me that hedge funds have benefited in any material way.

Not the OP, but check out the below examples. Beneficiaries across the range, from fundamental equity funds, quant funds, and distressed funds. The retail guys weren't just buying shares from themselves and market makers.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-hedge-fund-made-700-millio...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/08/gamestop-...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amc-ent-holdg-silver-lake...

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#125
post #121
post #55

I think the coming of companies like this signals the end of the bull market, the bubble is close to bursting. Every milkman is trying to get rich on the stock market. It was like this in 99. It was like this in 08. And before the german mark fell. "Side by side with the wealth were the pockets of poverty. Greater numbers of people remained on the outside of the easy money, looking in but not able to enter. The crime…

How are you positioned to take advantage of this? What's your portfolio like?

It's hard to take advantage even if things are frothy to be honest. The market can kick the can down the road for years longer than you expect, and melt up in the process - you could lose your shirt by shorting. The only concrete advice I'd have is to avoid the most speculative sections (e.g. meme stocks) and own businesses that can thrive even without constantly raising cash.

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#126

I guess I would want to see the outcomes of the average user. If the median user underperforms the S&P 500, which they likely will, I feel it's misleading to say you're empowering people. The alternative, meme-y yolo stocks, are worse, but is this really better if the informed choice is highly likely to be sitting in an ETF? > We also wanted to move away from a gamified experience which tends to cause stress and anxi…

Doesnt the median user earn the market return which we could say is S&P 500?

The average professional fund manager actually underperforms the S&P. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that the average retail investor does even worse.

However, there's an easy way for people to overcome this - buying an index fund (Vanguard is very cheap), which lets you capture (almost) the S&P's performance.

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#127

I hate to pour cold water here, but a stock I believe in is one that financially performs well. It doesn't matter what the mission statement or philosophy behind it is. I think all those intangibles are highly overrated as an actual concrete $-demonstrated strategy for investing. I find very mixed / uncorrelated results of companies emphasizing ESG issues leading to good financial performance. Larger factors control…

There are also implications on what is "ethical" or "moral" these days, but more due diligence research will definitely help.

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#128

Alinea is also a three-Michelin star restaurant in Chicago. I don't think names need to be 100% unique, but in the case of targeting wealthy investors - I'd assume they're one of the most likely groups of people to already think of "Alinea" as a restaurant. Plus, Alinea is involved heavily involved in tech via Tock.

I think the idea is, if you use this app, you will become rich enough to eat there.

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#129
post #4

Does this have any relation to the world-famous restaurant, sometimes in the past ranked as the #1 restaurant in the world, of the same name?

Hi -- I'm the co-owner of Alinea... the restaurant and group. While they are in different industries, I owned a derivatives trading group for years, run a tech startup (Tock), and am getting a bunch of emails from folks thinking I started this or am affiliated in some way. So... while I dislike conflict, I really don't like be associated with something I have no control over. There will be an incoming email shortly.

Amazing to read your answer! When I lived in Chicago I Was lucky enough to eat there multiple times, and it felt a bit like something sacred was being trod on. Will never forget eating "birthday cake" directly off the table, scattered in a little cosmos. Thank you for everything you've done.

Re: Launch HN: Alinea (YC W21) – Invest in stocks you believe in

#130
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, of course, not all observable information has been factored into the purchase price.

> not all observable information has been factored into the purchase price. Why wouldn't it already be priced into the current stock price?

Because someone needs to incorporate it into the price. People are dumb and inefficiencies in the markets abound.
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