A stupid idea to expose a stupid argument... #investmentbanking #technology #corporatecurrency #privateequity #venturecapital #castleplacement #cpgoapp

I wiped the sweat off my brow #investmentbanking #technology #corporatecurrency #privateequity #venturecapital #castleplacement #cpgoapp

What’s Happening. A View From The Castle. #investmentbanking #technology #corporatecurrency #privateequity #venturecapital #castleplacement #cpgoapp

The sun was setting, and I was almost ready to quit for the day.

A day I would replay in my head for the rest of my life.

“Reach out and touch someone”… A recent hack of AT&T affected around 73 million current and former account holders exposing personal information including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

I was exhausted and hungry, but had to go on because my LinkedIn post was not going to write itself.

By late afternoon it seemed that it would not be humanly possible to return all the phone calls I had received, but I had to summon the power to do so.

'Good times, bad times, know I've had my share'... OpenSea’s weekly NFT volume decreased from $1 billion to $20 million in the last two years, and total weekly trading volume for the entire NFT marketplace plummeted from $1.4 billion to $115 million.

Finally, after speaking to several investors, clients and Castle bankers I joined a Zoom call to discuss the open items required to close one of our capital raises.

Just then, there was a loud knock on my door…

Investors are concerned that it has reached its core business total addressable market and are reluctant to own the stock at a P/E multiple of 46X (without a compelling growth story).

'Keep off the path, your own private Idaho'... Private credit firms funded 86% of leveraged loans in 2023, up from 61% in 2019.

Nobody beats the Wiz... Lacework, a cloud security startup that was valued at $8.3 billion post-money in its last funding round, is reportedly negotiating an LOI to be purchased by Wiz (also a security company) for approximately $175 million.

The best part: since it's decentralized, it must be legal!!!

'Holy rheostat Batman'... Peloton market cap at peak in 2021: $49 billion; today: $1.2 billion. Rivian in 2021: $153 billion; today: $8.2 billion. Virgin Galactic in 2021: $15 billion; today: $438 million. Zoom in 2019: $161 billion; today: $19 billion.

In the morning I had replied to countless emails and negotiated a term sheet for a client with a stubborn VC investor.

“The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them”… The UST curve inversion (3-month vs. 10-year yields) has been inverted for 546 consecutive days - the longest in history.

A decentralized marketplace where people can buy and sell fentanyl.

The platform will benefit from its ease of use, accessibility, and permissionless nature, as anyone will be able to participate without requiring permission or approval.

Actually, law is law... Former trader Avi Eisenberg of Mango Markets, a DeFin protocol, was convicted in a jury trial of wire fraud, commodities fraud, and market manipulation after he extracted $110 million from the platform.

A crypto token (maybe called FEN) will incentivize involvement and participation in the ecosystem, empower governance over its future development, and provide discounts for trading.

'Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea'... The US is the largest oil producer in the world, producing 12.9 million barrels per day of crude oil - almost 30% more than Russia and 33% more than Saudi Arabia.

He manipulated a large increase in the price of the Mango token then borrowed against it and made off with $110 million. His defense: the code permitted his activity, and code is law.