This Week in Startups Altimeter’s Brad Gerstner on taking Grab public in largest SPAC ever, fixing broken IPOs | E1203
Apr 23, 2021
Brad Gerstner, founder of Altimeter Capital and a leading figure in SPAC investments, delves into the groundbreaking public offering of Grab, the largest SPAC ever. He critiques the traditional IPO process for its flaws and proposes solutions for improvement. Gerstner emphasizes the importance of responsible retail investing and advocates for a bold idea: investing $2000 for every American at birth to harness capitalism's potential for societal betterment. He also discusses the future of retail investing and the challenges that accompany market accessibility.
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Broken IPO Process
- The IPO process is broken due to its inefficiency and misaligned incentives.
- It serves agents, not owners, leading to underpricing and cap table randomization.
SPAC as an API
- Use SPACs as an open-source API for public markets and build a service layer for a turnkey solution.
- This provides a better alternative to traditional IPOs.
Expedia Connection
- Rich Barton, Brad Gerstner, and Dara Khosrowshahi met through Expedia acquisitions.
- They wanted to empower consumers by increasing data transparency, similar to Expedia's disruption of airline ticketing.