I first invested in Monzo 9 years ago and would very much appreciate the opportunity to cash in some of my shares. Other businesses see ways to do this, how about some Monzo creative thinking and action.
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Not sure this needed a new thread. Thereâs already one around IPOs here
Also that isnât how it works.
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A post was merged into an existing topic: Post-Liquidity Event - IPO, Secondaries, buyouts⌠etc
Since startups have been taking longer and longer to IPO, a lot of startups have started allowing early investors and employees to cash out in secondary sales. It would be great if Monzo started doing the same.
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Iâm almost certain they have.
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Employees have had the opportunity:
Investors havenât yet.
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I knew Iâd not imagined that. I personally donât think crowdfunding investors ever will.
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Yes, current employees had the opportunity to sell, however, not former employees. I think also some of the other early investors were able to sell, just not the crowdfunding investors. Itâs honestly not a great look and a bad way of Monzoâs leadership team to treat its early backers, be that crowdfunding investors or early employees, in a worse way than some other shareholders.
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But thatâs just not how it works. Just because I (havenât) worked for Monzo in the âgood ol daysâ of Tom and Jonas, should I now, years later, expect to be offered a better or similar deal than someone who walks around with a âI love TS Anilâ T-shirt on now?
Business is business. Once those at the very top have made the money they want, the very next deal will be for those who help them make the money. Then anything else is whatever it is.
Itâs soft thinking to think otherwise. And if anyone canât understand it, they really shouldnât have invested in the first place, crowdfunding or otherwise.
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I understand where youâre coming fromâcorporate and financial sectors often operate with a zero-sum mentality, but startups typically thrive on a positive-sum, pay-it-forward attitude toward early supporters.
When a leadership team disregards the people who helped them succeedâwhether early employees or crowdfundersâit risks damaging the companyâs reputation and making it harder to recruit talented employees and investors in the future. People notice how a company treats its earliest believers.
I respect that you may disagree, and thatâs perfectly fine. What I mostly object to is the framing on this message board that early crowdfunding investors should have expected poor treatment and should just keep quiet if they feel overlooked nine years later. Itâs not only disheartening to see those concerns dismissed on the message board as ânaive,â but it also goes against the cooperative spirit that has made Monzo successful. Iâm not suggesting everything is sunshine and rainbowsâonly that long-term success often depends on treating your earliest supporters as partners rather than expendable resources.
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Very well said, thank you.
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Have to say as a crowdfund investor i think i always fully expected to be âlast in lineâ . Almost seems baked in and regardless if it was a bank or any other business. Im just chuffed that unlike one of my other investments at the time Monzo is in rude health and i may actually still get something that would be some tangible help with all things [financial] life
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Still would have got more money if I had put in S&P500, but better than nothing I guess
Hardly, depends when you invested.
I bought in 2016 at 0.50 - shares are now well north of ÂŁ14.4
28.8x return on the initial, 14x on my second investment, 6x my last in 2017.
S&P in that time? 165% to 115% the last investment 600% > 115%.
Investing in Nvidia would have beaten it, but few other legitimate investments.
I genuinely think this is why crowdcube is quite a worrying concept.
People blindly putting money into a company without actually realising that these types of investment rarely become liquid or how the whole system works.
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ok, enlighten us how the system works. From my point of view it´s really not that complex: You invest in company, company makes IPO or secondary sale (or goes bankrupt), you get a return or your money is lost.
I think everybody understands that.
People like to discuss it here because Monzo has been very successful and the thought of getting a pay out with a nice return (and when and how this is going to happen) is just an interesting topic.
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Because your shares are quite literally meaningless until that happens. If that happens. And 9 years isnât that long.
Crowdcube bleat success stories like Revolut and people think âomg Iâm getting in at the ground floor with the next thingâ not realising that these stories are the exception, not the rule and most of the crowdcube stories are just sunken money.
People give companies their vote of confidence with a cash injection sure, but youâre unlikely going to see that ROI. Buying shares outside of a public listing is a very different ball game.
And not to mention, not every companies goal is to IPO or sell, the market is terrible right now, thereâs too much red tape with launching on the LSE and it adds a whole new layer of complexity.
In the future, your investment might materialise, but for now and likely the next few years, youâre SOL.
Average time from start up to IPO is 7-10 years.
Fixed that For you 
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