Scarcity of capital27 Mar 2024 22:24
I'm not too sure I'd agree with Ed that there's a scarcity of capital out there. For the right company in the right sector, there's a lot of investors chasing. There are marginal areas that few people expect growth (ahem, medical cannabis appears to be one of those at the moment) and there are likely to be plenty of companies in these sectors that are overvaluing themselves (I'd agree with that), so those that are genuinely undervalued, no one would really be interested in them anyway so they may well remain undervalued until they either fold or we as investors die of old age. So for example, in the field of DNA data storage, Evonetix had a very oversubscribed series B funding round (£44M chasing £20M Series B round), and that alongside a few other sectors, really IS the future, and would be an exciting area for SEED to consider. I thought Ed's March 18 presentation wasn't too bad. Interesting to hear that Mellon's increased his holding. Mellon and McDermott are obviously very close, so I hope that Mellon's able to provide further mentoring to McDermott. Mellon I think runs the Master Investor Show? Mellon and McDermott certainly share some of the same language ("That shows how much of a lousy investor I am, ha ha"). I think Mellon can get away with it but of course McDermott isn't there yet. And has Lloyd Leckerman exited completely or has he transferred to his wife? I can't remember. I wouldn't be surprised about the former. As others have said here, there is a risk discount likely applied with Ed at the helm so I personally hope he manages to demonstrate some value investing in the near future that can get us excited. I'm guessing the CFG exit is on the horizon too.