Why Japan is One of the World’s Safest Countries
Mairi McLaren
Apparently, it was too good to be true. The crypto bubble burst and now, fresh on its heels, we have a bear market. While, surely, it’s easy to point to the downturns as harbingers of a strained economy overdue for a correction, we believe there is another story at play. Beleaguered millennials, who grew up through the post-9/11 recessions only to begin to enter the job market during the housing crash, can’t seem to catch a break—but that doesn’t mean they’re not looking for one.
After all, what was the Robin Hood/Gamestop episode if not an attempt to create a new opportunity in the market? Doesn’t this hold true of all meme stocks—and even crypto? Millennial investors are well aware they are shut out forever from VC investing—not to mention owning commercial real estate, fine art, collectibles. Essentially, the Baby Boomers kicked out the ladder from behind them. As Social Security runs out, this inability to invest over lifespan has become ever more glaring and dire. Millennials have had enough. For this reason, any investment tool that offers the slightest promise of some equal footing will get a hearing. We’ve seen this consistently manifested as many flashes in many pans—not true evolution in the investment space.
Moreover, crypto and meme stocks all bear the hallmarks of a generation that buys brands based on stories and experiences. Content marketing is king when it comes to this demographic. How, we asked ourselves, could we create investment opportunities that exist outside the vicissitudes and bubbles of speculative financial tools, but also speak to a generation yearning for some innovation? How could we tap into narratives that support what surrounds us and what is real: our communities, the environment, and businesses that uplift?
Right now, mainstream financial news outlets are following a model that’s rapidly becoming obsolete. The Bloombergs and CNBCs of the world are still catering to an older, white, male, accredited audience, which is aging out. The content that’s succeeded with the good old boys of finance is not resonating with the next generation’s audiences whatsoever. Those entering their thirties with blossoming careers looking to get involved in investing are going to gravitate towards modern opportunities that offer the kind of access to investments that were previously reserved for the elite 0.1%, whether that be joint ownership of real estate, collectibles, or stock—the kind of investing that could actually be life-changing. This is a new generation of independently-minded financiers, who are fueling a retail investor renaissance—something Going Public is working to support.
Going Public is working to shift the landscape of investment to a level playing field, where all Americans can access investments early, where their highest potential for return lies. Wall Street today is essentially a centuries-old oligarchy that silos off early investment opportunities to a lucky accredited few—at precisely the time where people stand to make the most profit. For example, where groundbreaking startups like Uber are concerned, most of us don’t get access to their shares until they go public. By that point, you’d have to hold your stock for years before seeing a return. Until now, retail investors have been locked out, relegated to the viewing chamber of Bloomberg they can only watch—just the “big kids” get to play.
The real story behind the crypto crash and meme stocks is that retail investors are hungry. Their eagerness to participate has driven them to the ultra high risk, speculative assets—many of which might not even be legal—and untested, “buzzy” digital investments, like NFTs and crypto. This leads these young investors to get scammed, hacked, and defrauded. Turn on the financial news, and that’s the story you’ll see—the future of finance is bleak. But it doesn’t have to be.
Instead of punishing the fresh optimism of investing’s newest generation, Going Public is working to bring accessibility to real investments to real people running real companies, with real stories. Having invested in our platform, we’ve been able to attract the most promising startups, establishing a trustworthiness that sets us apart from the crypto hype otherwise generating buzz. We’re presenting an avenue and new vehicle for investors to learn about promising startups, unique alternative investments that they wouldn’t have access to and presenting it in a unique platform. All told, it creates a community where there was none before, educating the investor on a level at once previously impossible in the investment space, but entirely familiar to a whole generation of consumers.
Looking forward, the future of finance doesn’t lie in another mirage of stablecoins that aren’t stable: it’s access to promising startups that are doing tens of millions in revenue. This is where we’re putting our bets on progress: this is the next evolution of finance—the new narrative that we can build together.
