In the first episode of Think Like A CFO, CEO of Invisible, Francis Pedraza is joined by Will Summerlin and Max Friedrich of ARK Invest as they discuss how thinking like an investor can help improve strategic thinking.

The conversation touches on the state of the venture capital industry, specifically how it has changed in recent years. Will Summerlin discusses how in the early days of venture capital, companies would go public with a very small market cap and how now companies are worth over 100 billion dollars in the private markets. Francis Pedraza asks how far into the future Summerlin can see and what possibilities he sees that people are not expecting. Summerlin discusses how the venture asset class has transformed in recent years to support these large companies.

The trio further discuss the history of private equity and regulations around the world. Pedraza notes that regulations have changed a lot in the last hundred years, and that they have had both intended and unintended consequences. Summerlin asks why companies like SpaceX and Stripe have not gone public yet, and Pedraza speculates that it may be because they are waiting for more access to capital.

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