It's a rather amazing piece by Eric Sylvers, because it almost makes it seem if you were right in line behind these companies and you had $10 million or so you would have scored big. It sounds so easy. What were they thinking when they passed on Facebook, Google and Robinhood Markets? It's a financial version of the horseplayer telling everyone who doesn't care to listen that they "shoulda had" the winner, they "coulda had" the winner, they "woulda had" the winner except for a piece of cosmic dust that flew in their eyes and obscured their vision when it came time to bet.
The list of misses described in the piece is impressive. I'm sure they've crawled into the syllabus in business MBA courses.
"John Frankel, a partner at New York-based FF Venture Capital declined to invest in Robinhood at a $10 million valuation. 'We were wrong, what can I tell you?'"
"Bessemer Venture Partner's long list of misses includes Google in 1999, Tesla Inc. in 2006, Apple Inc. at a $60 million valuation and Airbnb at $40 million. And then there was Facebook."
If it wasn't for the fact that these guys hit it big with other companies and timing you'd almost feel sorry for them. Don't. Everyone has a story of lost opportunity.
Except I think my wife Liz, who seems to always find paper towels, Scott tissue, napkins, toilet paper and garbage bags on sale at prices you can't believe. And what she can do with those coupons! Well, if supermarkets were run like casinos, facial recognition cameras would keep from her rolling a cart down any aisle. They'd tackle her in the parking lot and bar her ass from entering.
She will always buy things we need. We just may not need them again so soon. We have a shed on the side of the house that has snow shovels, a ladder, gallons of kerosene for the garage workshop heater, beach chairs, life jackets, fishing gear, golf clubs, and bales and bales of toilet paper and Bounty paper towels. After all, they don't go bad, right?
The supply of paper towels must have been conveyed to the squirrels who found a way into the shed and gnawed their way through the paper towel packaging and pulled out wads of the stuff to line their nests with. This is the first winter this has happened, and we've taken it to be a sign that we're in for a cold winter. Well, not so far, anyway. If we survive Armageddon, we will be able to clean our bottoms for decades.
And then there's cat food, which always seems to be just the right price. Iresistable. We have two cats. One, our indoor cat Cosmo who is now around 16 years old, and an outdoor cat we started feeding five years ago because I felt they resembled the photo on trees in the park down the block telling whomever read the notice that Reuben was missing. Please call.
Well, the cat we now call Socks looked like the photo, but wasn't him. In fact, the tuxedo cat was a female, but thankfully was already spayed.
Socks takes her meals in the vestibule, and will when it's really cold, snowy or rainy out be made to curl up in the garage for the night. But the indoor life doesn't seem to suit her. She can't wait to get back out there.
We have enough cat food to start an animal shelter, or maybe feed Curtis Sliwa's gang for a week or two. I truly think Liz's goal is to keep whomever is behind her in the cat food aisle from buying the food they need for their cat. Oh wow, I got the last boxes of Fancy Feast. Tough luck, lady.
Liz's success at taking advantage of the right price is not confined to paper goods and cat food. She's scored eggs at $4.25 a dozen, fruit, vegetables, bread and other staples at what seem like wholesale prices.
Meat. Did I hear someone ask about meat? Our large freezer capacity is so full that if I want to bring home a dozen bagels and freeze some I need prior authorization to use the space. "Where do you think they're going?"
It has been just the two of us for years now. We do entertain, and the kids and grandkids do take advantage of the cooking, but I tell Liz that unless the GPS on the buses carrying migrants who have been crossing our border with Mexico go flooey, we can't reasonably expect a busload of hungry migrants will be discharged at the base of our driveway. No matter, we're ready for anything.
A sale doesn't exist that Liz doesn't see the need to take advantage of, whether we're running out of the item, or not.
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