Source - https://money.cnn.com/interactive/technology/masayoshi-son-profile/index.html

TL;DR - Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank is changing venture capital with a massive influx of cash, for better or worse.

Helpfulness - 5

Tags - notable investors, softbank, international, startup valuations

Questions addressed:

• Who is Masayoshi Son?
• What is SoftBank’s approach to early-stage funding?
• How has this impacted the rest of the venture capital ecosystem?

Summary:

• Masayoshi Son founded SoftBank in the 1980s and has had both incredible successes and large failures since then.
• The main vehicle for his current ambitions is the $100B Vision Fund.
• Today SoftBank is under fire for providing the cash to allow unprofitable companies to continue to grow.
• SoftBank is also accused of inflating internet startup valuations.

Follow up links:

• Early-stage startup valuations, https://seedcamp.com/resources/how-does-an-early-stage-investor-value-a-startup/
• Vision Fund losses, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-18/softbank-vision-fund-books-17-7-billion-loss-on-wework-uber
• Rise and fall of WeWork, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-rise-and-fall-of-wework