This Week in Pre-IPO Stocks

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E83: Emerging tech trends; 2013 to 2023, 2023 to 2023 … AI, biotech, brain-computer interface, data, [humanoid] robots | Pre-IPO Stock Podcast – Dec 18, 2023 | Clint Sorenson, Nick Fusco, Aaron Dillon Dec 19, 2023

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00:29 | 2013 to 2023 emerging tech trends; apps, social media, EVs, blockchain, cloud, data, clean energy
- Mobile apps following the iPhone's release in 2008
- Shift from desktop to mobile platforms
- Explosive growth in social media
- Evolution of electric cars from a novelty to a mainstream choice
- Integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) in daily life (e.g., smart appliances)
- Emergence and growth of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
- Increased focus on data analytics and knowledge graphs
- Advancements in cloud computing with services; Amazon AWS, Google Cloud
- Growth in clean energy technology and carbon credits markets
06:40 | 2023 to 2023 emerging tech trends; AI, biotech, brain-computer interface, data
- Exponential growth and human impact of wearable technology; health monitoring (e.g. Apple Watch detecting heart attacks)
- Advancements in biotech and brain-computer interface technologies like Neuralink, enhancing human capabilities and treating health issues
- Nanorobots in healthcare for targeted treatments
- AI's role in revolutionizing all industries, AI offers personalization of services … pharmaceuticals, healthcare, education, professional services
- Data as the key driver in AI's effectiveness, with better data leading to better outcomes
- Future of individual data ownership and compensation, “you are no longer the product”
- AI enabling more effective, individualized learning experiences … every kid has their own personal teacher
- Societal and economic impacts of AI … inability for humans to adapt fast enough … potential need for universal basic income
20:16 | 2023 to 2023 emerging tech trends; more AI, robots, universal basic income
- Tesla's new Optimus Generation 2 robot
- Robots, possibly humanoid, will be common in households for tasks like cleaning
- Integration of robots into society and their potential to disrupt the labor market, leading to discussions on Universal Basic Income (UBI)
- Robots in manufacturing, construction, home services
- Data gathering through wearable tech for AI and robot development; e.g. Telsa logging driving video for autonomous driving technology
- New, trillion-dollar companies emerging from current technological advancements to advance to the top 25 of the S&P 500
- Potential of AI to solve major problems like cancer, heart disease, and addiction
- Positive outlook on the future, with technology leading to increased human consciousness and better quality of life
- Anticipation of rapid changes leading to political and societal disruptions

E82: SpaceX ups tender to $180b, TikTok Shop posts 5m new customer in Nov 2023, Blue Origin to launch rocket, Mistral AI’s $2b valuation, OpenAI contracts with Politico and Business Insider, Harvey’s $700m valuation | Pre-IPO Stock Market Update – Dec 8, Dec 15, 2023

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00:10 | SpaceX ups tender to $180b
- Tender from $175b to $180b, or $97.00/share
- +26.0% from beginning of 2023, +19.8% from last tender in Jul 2023
- Tender is seeing strong demand after SpaceX forecasted StarLink $10b in 2024 revenue vs $0 in 2020
01:28 | TikTok Shop posts 5m new customer in Nov 2023
- Blended social media with shopping
- TikTok offers sellers 100% payouts, covers shipping, and covers discounts
- Brands like Mondelez and Benefit Cosmetics have adopted the service
- TikTok is a ByteDance company, ByteDance is the largest pre-IPO stock globally and is currently executing a $5b buyback at a $268b valuation
03:16 | Blue Origin to launch rocket
- Launch could occur as soon as Dec 18
- Blue Origin was on pause after an uncrewed launch auto-aborted (exploded) in Sep 2022
- Blue Origin’s New Shepard has completed 22 flights, carrying 31 people to space
- Blue Origin is working on a heavy lift rocket (New Glenn) and lunar lander (Blue Moon)
04:18 | Mistral AI’s $2b valuation
- Mistral AI is a large language model provide that competes with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere
- Mistral raised $487m from Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and Salesforce
05:12 | OpenAI contracts with Politico and Business Insider
- ChatGPT to provide users with article summaries, including subscription-based content, with proper attribution and links to the full articles
- Axel Springer, partner of Politico and Business Insider, will also supply content for training OpenAI's AI models
- OpenAI signed a similar agreement with the Associated Press
- OpenAI is currently in the process of closing a tender offer that will value the company at $86b
06:09 | Harvey’s $700m valuation
- Harvey is a AI large language model for lawyers built on top of OpenAI
- Raising $70-$80m at a $700m valuation
- Round led by Kleiner Perkins and Elad Gil
- Harvey already has strategic clients like PwC and Allen & Overy
07:19 | Big capital raises
- VAST Data (vastdata.com) | $118m Series E, $9.1b valuation
- Scalable Capital (de.scalable.capital) | $228m Series E, $2.1b valuation
- MaintainX (getmaintainx.com) | $50m Series C, $900m valuation
- Gecko Robotics (geckorobotics.com) | $173m Series C, $633m valuation
- Pragmatic (pragmaticsemi.com) | $227m Series D, $624m valuation
08:33 | Pre-IPO +1.23% for week
- Week winners: Cohere +21.58%, Klarna +6.52%, Ramp +3.49%, Stripe +3.43%, Snyk +3.33%
- Week losers: Brex -5.30%, Anduril -5.07%, Notion -2.75%, Canva -2.20%, ByteDance -1.04%
- Top valuations: ByteDance $193b, SpaceX $158b, OpenAI $71b, Stripe $50b, Databricks $47b lead in current valuation
Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon Funds - www.agdillon.com

E81: $5b ByteDance buyback at $268b, New SpaceX tender at $175b valuation, Epic Games LEGO Fortnite a MASSIVE success | Pre-IPO Stock Podcast – Dec 11, 2023 | Clint Sorenson, Nick Fusco, Aaron Dillon Dec 12, 2023

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00:16 | $5b ByteDance buyback at $268b
- $5b buy back at $160.00/share, or $268b valuation
- First ever pre-IPO stock buy back???
- Pitchbook has a $220b valuation as of Mar 2023
- +37% from implied valuation of $196b based on secondary market price performance
- $29 billion in Q2 and $85 billion annually with a 67% jump in net profit
10:08 | New SpaceX tender at $175b valuation
- SpaceX announced their Dec 2023 tender
- $175b valuation at $95.00/share
- Raising $500m to $750m
- +17% from last round in Jul 2023 at $150b valuation
- +28% from valuation at beginning of 2023, $137b valuation
- Nick Fusco: “The price they're [SpaceX] setting is almost methodical. It steps up consistently and it's almost not even market driven. It's kind of like it's driven by them internally at SpaceX, right? So if we can see these coming and there's always enough demand to satiate it, I can look at it as is it the tail wagging the dog or I can look at it as it might be worth way more interestingly. They are throttling it because there's
so much demand on the back of it. Just every time we're looking at the market, SpaceX is one of those other anomalies in there. It defied where the private markets have performed over the last year or two, even in the down market. And then the buy side demand on it has been traditionally higher than most other stocks as well. So I don't know which way it's going to go, but I feel as though they internally as a company, have so much control over that share price that it's not necessarily going to going to be correlated as well to other names in the market.”
15:00 | Epic Games LEGO Fortnite a MASSIVE success
- LEGO Fortnite launched on Dec 7, 2023
- New Fortnite player record; 6.6 live players, 11.6m watchers ... of which, 2.4m live LEGO players
- Minecraft like experience and available for 10yrs+ vs the standard 13yrs+
- Sony and KIRKBI, the family-owned holding and investment company behind The LEGO Group, each invested $1b ($2b total) into Epic Games in Apr 2022 at a $31.5b valuation
- ApeVue data has Epic down 65% since Apr 2022 to an implied $11b valuation

E80: SpaceX’s $175b valuation, ByteDance $5b buyback at $268b valuation, Navan fires 5% of staff, X.AI to raise $1.0b | Pre-IPO Stock Market Update – Dec 8, 2023 Dec 08, 2023

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00:09 | SpaceX’s $175b valuation
- SpaceX announced their Dec 2023 tender
- $175b valuation at $95.00/share
- Raising $500m to $750m
- +17% from last round in Jul 2023 at $150b valuation
- +28% from valuation at beginning of 2023, $137b valuation
01:07 | ByteDance $5b buyback at $268b valuation
- $5b buy back at $160.00/share, or $268b valuation
- Pitchbook has a $220b valuation as of Mar 2023
- +37% from implied valuation of $196b based on secondary market price performance
- $29 billion in Q2 and $85 billion annually with a 67% jump in net profit
02:40 | Navan fires 5% of staff
- spend management for companies, formerly TripActions
- 145 employees impacted
- IPO preparations underway, Goldman Sachs advising
- Focus is to drive profitability and operational efficiency
- $300m in annual revenue
03:55 | X.AI to raise $1.0b
- X.AI’s Grok aims to compete with AI solutions from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic
- $135m of $1.0b raised to date, remainder under binding agreement
- X owns 25% of X.AI
- X will “distribute” Grok, Premium+ subscribers will get access to Grok under their $16/month subscription … compared to OpenAI’s $20/month premium subscription
05:19 | Big capital raises
- Wormhole (wormhole.com) | $225m Series A, $2.5b valuation
- Castore (castore.com) | $180m Series E, $1.2b valuation
- Kandou (kandou.com) | $100m Series E, $814m valuation
- Center (getcenter.com) | $30m Series C, $600m valuation
- Tower 28 (tower28beauty.com) | $28m Series A, $228m valuation
06:50 | Pre-IPO -1.48% for week
- Week winners: Airtable +5.60%, Rippling +4.87%, Canva +1.44%, Klarna +1.27%, Neuralink +1.05%
- Week losers: Flexport -22.37%, Deel -8.46%, Ramp -8.40%, OpenAI -8.34%, Notion -3.19%
- Top valuations: ByteDance $196b, SpaceX $157b, OpenAI $71b, Stripe $49b, Databricks $46b lead in current valuation
Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon Funds - www.agdillon.com

E79: $32b Shein 2023 revenue, 50% Canva YoY revenue growth rate, KISS avatar show coming soon, Freedom of speech and pre-IPO stocks | Pre-IPO Stock Podcast – Dec 4, 2023 | Clint Sorenson, Nick Fusco, Aaron Dillon Dec 06, 2023

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00:18 | Freedom of speech and pre-IPO stocks
- Freedom of speech is the hot topic on social media and its impact on pre-IPO companies like ByteDance's Tiktok and X
- Advertisers are a primary source of revenue for social media shops
- Tiktok is moving into commerce, X is moving to subscription model and AI … a desire to migrate away from advertiser driven revenue model
07:36 | $32b Shein 2023 revenue
- Shein looking to IPO in 2024
- Headquartered in Singapore (developed market), operations in China, 100% of customers outside of China, listing in
- $32b 2023 revenue run rate, +41% from 2022 building on a 45% year over year increase 2022 vs 2021
- $66b valuation as of May 2023 Series G; Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Mubadala invested
- Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley are lead underwriters for IPO
15:03 | 50% Canva YoY revenue growth rate
- Canva is a graphic design + AI solution to help the layperson become a marketing expert
- Canva currently doing a tender, preparing for an IPO
- $25 billion current valuation
- $2 billion annualized revenue, 50% growth YoY rate, positive cash flow
21:23 | KISS avatar show coming soon
- George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic is creating a KISS avatar show
- ABBA has done avatar concerts and makes $2m per week

E78: Shein IPO!, Canva IPO!, Anthropic +42% in 2ndary market, $323m for Neuralink | Pre-IPO Stock Market Update – Dec 1, 2023 Dec 01, 2023

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00:08 | Shein files for US IPO
- $32b 2023 revenue run rate, +41% from 2022 … following a 45% year over year increase 2022 vs 2021
- $66b as of May 2023 Series G; Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Mubadala invested
- Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley are lead underwriters for IPO
01:41 | Neuralink raises $323m
- Neuralink offers brain-computer interface solutions to help people paralysis, neurodegenerative diseases, or simple connect their brain to the internet
- $43m additional capital raised last week to finalize a $323m Series D
- $3.5b valuation for this Series D, 66% increase from prior round
03:05 | Canva to IPO in 2025
- Canva provides graphic design tools, infused with AI, to make the layperson a graphic design/marketing savant
- $2.0b in annualized revenue, 50% yearly growth rate, positive cash flow
- Tender sale happening now, tbd on valuation
- $25b secondary market valution
04:21 | CEO Zhao out at Binance
- US Treasury Dept fines Binance after violations of Bank Secrecy Act (i.e. bad AML controls); $4.3b for firm, $50m for CEO
- Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO, is out and Richard Teng, Binance head of regional markets, is new CEO
05:19 | Anthropic up +42.5% this week
- Anthropic is an OpenAI ChatGPT competitor
- +42% in the secondary market last week as a result of the OpenAI board/CEO snafu
- $40b secondary market valuation, +61% from Oct 2023 round at $25b just 1 month ago
05:50 | Big capital raises
- Envision AESC (aesc-group.com) | $1.5b Series C, $10.0b valuation
- Neuralink (neuralink.com) | $323m Series D, $3.5b valuation
- AI21 Labs (ai21.com) | $208m Series C, $1.4b valuation
- BioCatch (biocatch.com) | $70m Series D, $1.1b valuation
- Rokid Technology (global.rokid.com) | $112m Series I, $1.0b valuation
07:24 | Pre-IPO +1.14% for week
* NOTE: Neuralink's Nov 22, 2023 primary round valuation at $3.52b now included in the analysis below
- Week winners: Anthropic +42.49%, Neuralink +5.65%, Klarna +3.17%, Databricks +1.64%, SpaceX +1.42%
- Week losers: Ramp -7.17%, Rippling -5.57%, Notion -3.20%, Revolut -2.84%, Chainalysis -1.46%
- Top valuations: ByteDance $201b, SpaceX $157b, OpenAI $77b, Stripe $48b, Databricks $46b lead in current valuation
Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon Funds - www.agdillon.com

Josh Brown + Aaron Dillon >> SpaceX overview, Starlink IPO, revenue forecasts ; OpenAI governance, CEO changes, latest drama | The Compound and Friends – Nov 21, 2023 Nov 22, 2023

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Full TCAF episode = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sam-altman-and-openai-spacex-and-starlink-nvidia-earnings/id1456467014?i=1000635616090
01:31 | SpaceX overview, Starlink IPO, revenue forecasts
- SpaceX is a space payload delivery and satellite interne business. They have developed reusable rocket technology, significantly reducing the cost of space missions.
- SpaceX payloads typically include resupplying the space station, deploying satellites, and transporting astronauts.
- A significant portion of SpaceX's revenue comes from government contracts, including a substantial deal with NASA and projects for the U.S. Space Force.
- SpaceX is projected to be a $41 billion annual revenue business in five years. This growth is largely attributed to the success of Starlink.
- Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet business, is expected to generate $10 billion of the projected $15 billion revenue in 2024. With over 5000 satellites in space, Starlink aims to provide global internet coverage.
- Starlink is becoming popular due to its ability to provide reliable internet service in areas with poor connectivity. Its partnership with T-Mobile to connect phones directly to satellites in areas without cellular service.
- There's speculation about Starlink potentially spinning off from SpaceX and going public, possibly in 2024 or 2025. The business is already profitable and growing rapidly.
16:00 | OpenAI governance, CEO changes, latest drama
- OpenAI was valued at approx. $30b just a few months ago and is currently in a tender offer valuing the company at $80b to $90b
- The breaking news surrounding OpenAI and Microsoft has been surprising and is still evolving. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, is ripping out tweets at 2:30am.
- It takes about five years to develop a large language model like OpenAI, along with significant capital investment (around $2 to $5 billion).
- OpenAI's existing large language model, GPT-4, is highly regarded in the tech community.
- Developers consider OpenAI's new solutions for developers to be game-changers.
- Anthropic, another AI company with a focus on AI safety first and significant investment from Amazon, is growing rapidly and gaining investor attention despite leading with an AI safety-first model. This serves as a proof point that a safety-first approach doesn’t necessarily hinder business growth and investor interest.
- The current situation with OpenAI's board and executive team will get resolved soon, providing more clarity on the company's future trajectory.

E76: OpenAI + Microsoft CEO shuffle, SpaceX Starship successful test flight, Brex/Ramp new AI tools | Pre-IPO Stock Podcast – Nov 20, 2023 | Clint Sorenson, Nick Fusco, Aaron Dillon Nov 20, 2023

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00:15 | OpenAI + Microsoft CEO shuffle
- Sam Altman (CEO) fired on Friday by board of directors
- Greg Brockman (President) and other senior OpenAI employees resign on Friday
- OpenAI investors demand that board bring back Altman, Brockman, and other employees that resigned
- Monday AM ... Microsoft announces that Altman, Brockman, and other OpenAI execs are going Microsoft
- OpenAI announced Emmett Shear is interim CEO ... Shear was former CEO of Twitch
07:48 | SpaceX Starship successful test flight
- Starship delivers 5x the payload capacity as the Falcon 9 and significant cost efficiency
- Starship second test flight was a success; "hot stage separation" and no launch pad damage
- Potential for Starship to revolutionize the transport, freight, and travel sectors
- Watching Starship launches live is a must
- Musk highlighted that three more Starships are in the wings and ready for launch … next test launch could happen in just a few weeks time
14:12 | Brex/Ramp new AI tools
- Brex and Ramp announced AI solutions for business banking
- Are you comfortable with AI handling your sensitive personal information? This crew is not there yet…
- AI is becoming integral in various sectors … has potential to replace traditional roles in industries like accounting, legal, and wealth management
- Brex and Ramp’s businesses are thriving but valuations are down … Brex is down 69% since its last round to $3.8b, Ramp is down 49% since its last round to $4.2b

E74: $15b of 2024 SpaceX revenue, Shein to IPO!, Klarna to IPO!, xAI launches LLM model, OpenSea lays off 50% | Pre-IPO Stock Market Update – Nov 10, 2023 Nov 10, 2023

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00:07 | Klarna to IPO!
- Klarna, a buy now pay later company, is setting up a new British holding company, a step towards a potential IPO
- Current secondary market valuation is $6.2; IPO rumored at $15b, 142% increase
01:17 | xAI launches LLM model
- Grok is xAI’s first product, a LLM model to compete with OpenAI ChatGPT and Google Bard
- Grok has been trained on X/Twitter data
- xAI is an independent company from X and has yet to raise external capital
02:07 | OpenSea lays off 50% of staff
- Exact number of affected employees undisclosed
- Current cuts follow a 20% staff reduction in Jul 2022 and 10 staff in May 2023
- OpenSea transaction volume is down 99% since start of 2022
03:05 | $15b of 2024 SpaceX revenue
- $9.0b in 2023 estimated revenue
- $3.0b in 2023 estimated EBITDA
- $15b in 2024 estimated revenue, a 67% year over year increase
- Starlink now cash flow positive and will be a majority of SpaceX revenue in 2024
04:16 | Shein to IPO!
- Shein targets up to $90 billion valuation for a potential U.S. IPO
- IPO valuation is higher than the $64 billion earlier this year but below Apr 2022's $100 billion
- Shein is positioning itself as a global brand, moving its base to Singapore and recruiting international leaders
05:26 | Big capital raises
- Next Insurance (www.nextinsurance.com) | $265m Series G, $2.5b valuation
- Zilch (www.zilch.com) | Series D, $2.0b valuation
- WeLab Holdings (www.welab.co) | $260m Series E, $2.0b valuation
- Tabby (www.tabby.ai) | $200m Series D, $1.5b valuation
- SkyCell (www.skycell.ch) | $57m Series D, $600m valuation
06:26 | Pre-IPO +0.36% for week
* NOTE: Pitchbook posted Anthropic's Oct 2023 primary round at $25.0b post-money valuation. This has now been updated in the implied valuation report below.
- Week winners: Brex +9.11%, Epic Games +2.48%, Airtable +1.48%, Deel +1.08%, SpaceX 0.92%
- Week losers: Anthropic -2.97%, Byju's -1.61%, Reddit -1.25%, Stripe -0.81%, Databricks -0.51%
- Top valuations: ByteDance $204b, SpaceX $153b, OpenAI $80b, Stripe $51b, Databricks $47b lead in current valuation
Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon Funds - www.agdillon.com

E73: Anthropic +400% in 5 months, X.com -57% to $19b, Andreessen is a Techno-Optimist, SpaceX 2nd Starship attempt | Pre-IPO Stock Market Update – Nov 3, 2023 Nov 03, 2023

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00:10 | Andreessen is a Techno-Optimist
- Marc Andreessen is co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a $35b AUM venture capital firm
- "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto" celebrates potential of technology, markets, and human intelligence for societal progress and abundance
- Challenges tech stagnation, anti-technology sentiment, and excessive tech regulation
- Created in response to government and public apprehension on AI, the metaverse, nuclear technology, and other emerging tech
01:40 | SpaceX 2nd Starship attempt
- FAA completes safety review of SpaceX's Starship rocket, clearing major hurdle for its second liftoff
- Next US Fish and Wildlife Service review and approve the new water deluge system
- Launch date remains TBD
02:32 | Startup bankruptcies could be a bottoming?
- OliveAI, Convoy, Pebble, Hello Bello all declared bankruptcy or had a fire sale
- Each were big companies that a few years back would have easily been able to raise additional capital to keep going
- Large business failures like this force startup CEOs to recognize that they need to drive to profitability fast in order to control their own destiny and also acknowledge that the valuations of their businesses are not going back to 2021 levels
- The goal is to get to market clearing prices and these realizations are catalysts to get the market there
03:57 | X.com -57% to $19b
- X announced a $19b internal valuation, -57% below the Musk purchase price of $44b
- Musk envisions X as the ‘everything app’, implying integration of functionalities like tweets, YouTube videos, checking accounts, Venmo, merchant payments, sports betting, news article micro-payments, and shopping
- Investment thesis for X centers on Musk's ability to [1] actualize the 'everything app' concept, and [2] its potential adoption by US users akin to Chinese users' engagement with WeChat, the China ‘everything app’
- WeChat a primary product for Tencent with a $373b market cap
06:11 | Anthropic +400% in 5 months
- Google invests $500m now and commits $1.5b in the future at a $25b post-money valuation (source Pitchbook)
- Google previously invested $300m in Apr 2023 for a 10% stake
- Amazon invested $1.25b in Sep 2023, with potential to add $2.75b at a future date
07:18 | Big capital raises
- Anthropic (www.anthropic.com) | $2.0b Series F, $25b valuation
- Pony.ai (www.pony.ai) | $100m Series D2, $8.5b valuation
- Island (www.island.io) | $100m Series C, $1.5b valuation
- Zhizi Automobile (www.xn--i8sq31b1uyx4b.com) | $76m Series B, $1.45b valuation
- AgentSync (www.agentsync.io) | $125m Series B, $1.25b valuation
08:28 | Pre-IPO -0.21% for week
- Week winners: Klarna +2.81%, Rippling +2.41%, Scale.ai +1.53%, Airtable +1.40%, Databricks +0.70%
- Week losers: SpaceX -5.29%, Anthropic -2.82%, Deel -2.54%, Stripe -1.73%, Discord -1.64%
- Top valuations: ByteDance $203b, SpaceX $152b, OpenAI $80b, Stripe $51b, Databricks $47b lead in current valuation
Invest in pre-IPO stocks with AG Dillon Funds - www.agdillon.com

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