Jamin4d ago
Jan Wildeboer 😷

I have 100 post-its in blue and I signed and numbered them all. I claim they are worth $10M each and my best buddy agrees. He also found investors that have bought one post-it, I gave them a discount of 90%, so they paid me $1M. I can now claim I’m a billionaire. I don’t plan to sell any of the 99 remaining post-its. I will maybe use one or two of them as collateral for loans. My name is Elon Musk jr.

1/2

#SarcasmButOnlyHalf

Jun 13 at 5:31pmWeb
Show threadJan Wildeboer 😷4d ago

My best buddy got $100k for his nice words. I get to keep $900k. The investors created a hype and found 100 new investors that paid $100K each to have a 1% part of my post-it note (this is called dilution). They are sure they can sell their share for at least $150K. So the early investors made a lot of money and now my 99 post-it notes are worth $15M each! Makes my loans even cheaper! Capitalism is wonderful ;)

(This is the difference between valuation and value. I hope it helps.)

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Show threadRandall Lee4d ago
@jwildeboer Do you need to issue yellow post its as collateral to borrow on their value to pay back the first loan or can the blue pieces of paper be used as collateral to borrow more money?
It's no different than printing your own money but with extra steps to launder it.
Show threadJan Wildeboer 😷4d ago
@BLTpizza Depends on the bank that approved my loans. It happens to be the same bank that 80 of the 100 new investors used to pay the original investors. So the bank is in a bit of a dilemma. If they ask me for more or better collaterals, they risk the trust of the 100 investors. 80 of these 100 investors make them more money, however. So the bank will ultimately accept the risk and even up my loans to create more trust. ;)
Show threadel Celio 🇪🇺 🇺🇦4d ago

@jwildeboer @BLTpizza

and when things will go wrong, bank can still be bailed out by the government.

Show threadfedithom4d ago

@jwildeboer

Sounds like a ponzi scheme, doesn't it? Maybe the whole shareholder thing is really a giant, more sophisticated and legal ponzi scheme?

Show threadJan Wildeboer 😷4d ago
@fedithom Stocks always ultimately have a value of zero, should every stock owner decide to sell at the same time. That’s why dilution exists. The hope is that only a small percentage of stock is free floating in the market, so the illusion of value can persist. You can always point to my 99 blue post-it notes that are not up for sale. I might sell you one for $30M. Because you’ll make a lot of money if you dilute that 1:100. Trust me!
Show threadKen Milmore4d ago
@jwildeboer @fedithom Surely they have a nominal value that is the investor capital that created them? That's how it is with UK companies anyhow.
Show threadJan Wildeboer 😷4d ago
@kbm0 Nominal being the important word. No garantuee you’ll get it in cash. @fedithom
Show threadseedsignal4d ago

@jwildeboer Long as you live in a world that got built to do this and gated against any who might make it impossible, you're golden, bro. But maybe spend some time making sure people stay angry over their differences so they can't unify around similarities -- we got that figured out after the world wars, so now we proxy by token.

Gaming is fun. If you want, I can get you in; only cost you $1M. Ready to feast, bro?

💎 🩵

Show threadaptitude4d ago
@jwildeboer Please be kind and help feed the Halve Notes.
Show threadEli the Bearded4d ago

@jwildeboer

See also

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-economics-for-dummies

AI Economics for Dummies

“Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 bi...

McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Show threadNeil Moffatt4d ago
@jwildeboer Indeed. Vast sums of money played around with an arrogant, aggrandise, entitled deeply egocentric disregard for the billions struggling in life.