🦺 Everyone's a VC

The Private Markets Don't Feel So Private Anymore, Tariff Paralysis Impacts Capex —and, Later this Week, the Exclusive CEO Interview You Don't Want to Miss

Author

Katie Perry
April 29, 2025

Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: Why the Private Markets Aren’t So Private Anymore

You might have noticed me posting a lot about Josh Allen this week. Well, more than usual for me, and more than a typical Bills fan might be doing in the off-season. 

It's because an interval fund I’ve been working with, The Cashmere Fund, officially announced your reigning 2025 NFL MVP as an investor and partner. When Josh Allen — a guy who genuinely loves golf and farming and earnestly names his devices things like “Joshua’s iPad” — starts paying attention to venture capital, you know it's officially mainstream. So today, I wanted to talk about access to startup investing and why it's becoming increasingly interesting to retail investors.

This guy!

Retail investors have been steadily shifting from spectators to players in the private market game. The numbers back it up: Deloitte’s brand new report on financial services trends for 2025 predicts that private market allocations could grow by 12% annually through 2027, fueled by individual investors seeking new sources of returns beyond the public markets. Access is getting easier, interest is getting stronger, and the definition of "alternative investing" is getting a massive rebrand.

Alternative investing, and more specifically venture capital, has of course, been top of mind with me as I work with a team that’s building in the space. But lately, it has felt like a cascade of headlines has further reinforced the degree to which individual investors are branching out beyond stocks and crypto to support long-term diversification goals. Just a few signals:

  • SoFi just announced that it’s giving members access to new private market opportunities, including a fund solely exposed to Anthropic, valued at $15 billion, through the Cosmos platform. $SOFI ( â–˛ 1.52% )  

  • ARK Invest is expanding access to its Venture Fund through Schwab’s brokerage platform, meaning their users will also soon be able to buy into a basket of early-stage, high-growth startups the same way you buy stocks. $ARKVX ( 0.0% )  $SCHW ( â–˛ 1.96% )  

  • Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev recently made comments on Fox Business that indicated that access to the private markets could be coming to Robinhood users soon. “They’re private companies whose investors are limited to a very, very small circle of insiders who tend to invest in all of these deals. So I think that the next frontier and democratization of retail investing is going to be making sure that these opportunities are open to retail investors,” he said in the interview. $HOOD ( â–˛ 4.23% )  

  • BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has been pounding the table about expanding access to the private markets, saying that regular Americans need private assets, too. $BLK ( â–˛ 1.43% )  

  • And, as I mentioned, NFL star Josh Allen is joining forces with The Cashmere Fund, an interval fund focused on providing retail investors access to venture capital-style investments. Axios shares more in an exclusive spotlight.

Retail Investors in 2025: Risk-On — and Diversified

What’s fueling this surge in private investing interest? Well, movement is fairly intuitive if you think about it. We’re witnessing the democratization of — well, everything — thanks to technology that expands access to once out-of-reach asset classes: first stocks, then real estate, collectibles, PE, and VC.

On average, HNWIs allocate 13% of their portfolios to alternative investments, according to a 2024 report from The Wealth Advisor. Among ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), who have $30 million or more in investable assets, the allocation to alternatives can reach 50% of their total wealth.

Beyond diversification goals, it might also be the new psychology of the retail investor. In a turbulent 2025 market, professional investors pulled back from stocks, but retail investors kept buying, according to a recent Wall Street Journal analysis.

Retail investors bought $15 billion in U.S. equities in March alone, even as hedge funds and asset managers trimmed exposure. Many individual investors, especially the younger ones, are confident that the macro-induced volatility of late is a “generational buying opportunity,” AKA a chance to buy stocks at sale prices. When I interviewed Andrew McCormick, Head of eToro US, last week, he said that post-GameStop era retail investor is less rattled by volatility, more willing to think long-term, and more willing to take unconventional risks.

Combine that with easier access to private markets, a flood of new fintech tools, and a cultural shift that prizes early-stage investing (we got VCs running all over the White House now!), and you’ve got a recipe for a booming retail-driven private market.

New Realities for New Retail VCs

Many retail investors who got into the public markets during Covid and the 2021 meme stock era now have 5+ years of experience under their belts. They’ve leveled up how they conduct research and are using sophisticated data sources, AI tools, and community apps to inform their decisions. Therefore, it’s reasonable to expect a similar learning curve when it comes to the private markets.

But before you rush to grab a piece of the next unicorn, experts would advise you to consider that your investing strategy could vary based on a company’s stage of growth. Throwing $1,000 in Waste Management is not like investing $1,000 in a pre-revenue, early-stage startup with potentially high growth potential. $WM ( â–˛ 0.23% )  

Here are a few important distinctions to keep in mind if you’re a public markets investor exploring opportunities to expand your portfolio to private market opportunities (like PE and VC).

Liquidity isn’t guaranteed. Public stocks can be sold in seconds. Private investments? You could be locked in for years. Some interval funds, like Cashmere, allow only quarterly redemptions, but it’s still not the same as the majroity of trading experiences you’ve had with stocks, ETFs, and cryptos.

Valuation can be a bit of a black box. Public companies report quarterly earnings, offer audited financials, and face constant scrutiny. Early-stage companies often don't. You're betting on the team, the market, and a vision, not a fully available balance sheet.

Due diligence looks different. In public markets, you can compare P/E ratios, debt levels, and historical growth. In private markets, you need to assess product-market fit, founder quality, competition, and burn rate. There's more art, less math.

Access models matter. Funds like The Cashmere Fund offer a portfolio approach via an "interval fund" structure, giving investors exposure to many startups while reducing single-company risk. This approach — and others like it — is becoming more common thanks to partnerships with brokerages like Apex Fintech (which is working with Cashmere) and moves by brokerages, like SoFi and Schwab, to offer private market investing in-platform.

Risk can be higher, but so can potential upside. Some startups fail. Often! According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of U.S. businesses fail within the first year, and around 50% fail by year five. But the ones that win? They can create generational wealth.

You can geek out on this topic even more in Deloitte’s full report.

For full transparency, as mentioned above, I advise The Cashmere Fund. My comments are for educational purposes only and are not intended as investment advice. Though I am affiliated with Cashmere, I was not compensated to write about this topic. You can learn more about The Cashmere Fund and read its prospectus at: https://www.thecashmerefund.com/. 

Daily Rip Live is On Hiatus For a Few Days, But Don’t Cry for Us, Argentina!

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. We’re on hiatus for a few days this week, but don’t worry, because we’ve got some other very special things planned for you…

I’ll be interviewing Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev for an in-depth look at the company’s Q1 earnings results, which they will release after the closing bell on Wednesday. You can watch the interview LIVE on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET. in the Stocktwits app, or on YouTube, X, and LinkedIn. $HOOD ( â–˛ 4.23% )  

And instead of a full episode, here are some earnings updates for you on this lovely Tuesday morning:

  • Domino’s Pizza — Mixed Results: $DPZ ( â–˛ 0.67% ) beat on EPS but missed on revenue, with U.S. same-store sales falling short of expectations while international growth beat forecasts. Despite higher food costs and net store closures, the company remains optimistic about H2 growth driven by its upcoming DoorDash partnership.

  • Waste Management – Mixed Results: $WM ( â–˛ 0.23% ) delivered an EPS beat but missed on revenue, with strong cash flow offsetting top-line softness. The company reaffirmed its 2025 outlook but saw shares dip following the report.

  • NXP Semiconductors – Beat: $NXPI ( â–˛ 3.47% ) posted modest beats on both revenue and EPS, though year-over-year revenue fell due to soft demand in Automotive and Industrial & IoT. Shares dropped 8% post-earnings on a cautious Q2 outlook and news of CEO Kurt Sievers' planned retirement.

  • Revvity – Beat: $RVTY ( â–˛ 1.17% ) exceeded expectations on revenue and EPS, buoyed by growth in its Life Sciences and Diagnostics segments. The company slightly raised its full-year outlook, sending shares up over 7%.

  • AbbVie – Beat and Raise: $ABBV ( â–˛ 2.65% ) surpassed revenue expectations and raised its full-year profit guidance, powered by strong sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The stock rose 3.4%, leading the S&P 500 on the day.

Now Here’s a Chart

Tariff uncertainty has a lot of executives and corp dev teams pressing pause on capital expenditure (capex) spending — which for those of you not in the weeds of this stuff, just means big-ticket investments a company makes in things like buildings, equipment, or technology that are meant to help the business grow or operate more efficiently over the long term.

Apollo Asset Management $APO ( â–Ľ 1.83% ) plots the reversal for us here:

Reading List

🎧 Now playing: â€śCoffee and TV” - Blur (also one of the coolest music videos ever produced!)

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.