All-In E52: Trump's SPAC, peak venture liquidity, tech as an economic ladder, Dems overplaying their hand

Episode 52 • 10/23/2021

Trump's SPAC & Media Company

Trump announced Trump Media & Technology Group, merging with SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC)
Stock peaked at $157/share (~$20B valuation) despite having no product, team, or technology
Planning "Truth Social" platform to compete with Twitter, with posts called "truths" and "retruths"
The group discussed this as either a pure speculation play or a vehicle to acquire existing media assets
Chamath suggested they could raise billions through secondary offerings to acquire real media properties

Record-breaking exits in venture capital: $590B in 2021 vs $280-290B in 2019-2020
Historical context: Exits were typically $50-100B annually for previous 15-20 years
Discussion of how crypto investments are showing even more dramatic gains
Chamath shared having to mark up a crypto investment by $1B in one quarter

Group discussed how remote work and free online education have created unprecedented opportunities
Engineering salaries discussed, with example of Stripe offering $280K starting salaries
Debate about whether tech industry is exclusionary or actually creates paths for immigrants and minorities
Sacks argued that tech wealth is going to "entirely new people" not traditional elites

Discussion of Biden administration's legislative strategy challenges
Sacks criticized progressives for trying to pass ambitious agenda without sufficient congressional margins
Compared to LBJ's Great Society which had much larger congressional majorities
Group debated whether Biden has been effective at building consensus and managing progressive wing