Keep pulling the thread on Howard Lindzon.
Social Leverage was one of the earliest seed investors in Robinhood.
Social Leverage's initial seed investment in Robinhood was $100,000 at an $8 million valuation.
StockTwits invented the "cashtag" convention, which uses a dollar sign followed by a stock ticker (e.g., $AAPL) to organize financial conversations on social media.
Howard Lindzon asserts that approximately 90% of a retail brokerage's profits are derived from options trading.
Howard Lindzon's investment thesis for Robinhood was based on the arbitrage between Schwab's estimated $150 customer acquisition cost and Robinhood's potential to acquire users for free.
Social Leverage wrote a term sheet for Robinhood's Series A to raise $11 million at a $60 million valuation, but the deal was ultimately led by Index Ventures.
During the GameStop trading frenzy, Robinhood's valuation peaked at $40 billion but faced a near-zero bankruptcy risk due to capital constraints.
Howard Lindzon's "Degenerate Economy Index" has returned 170% over a three-year period, outperforming the NASDAQ 100's 94% return in the same timeframe.
Google and Apple are the largest holdings in Howard Lindzon's "Degenerate Economy Index" because he considers them the essential infrastructure for this trend.
Howard Lindzon is bearish on the venture capital industry's value proposition in a high-interest-rate environment, believing public markets offer better liquidity and opportunities.
Social Leverage's venture portfolio consists of over 150 companies.
The product 'The Grip' generated between $60 million and $70 million in sales during the 1990s.