nblack88 t1_ix4c5ej wrote on November 20, 2022 at 5:36 PM

Disclaimer: I am not a fiduciary; this is not financial advice.

There are two approaches to this:

High risk, high reward.
Low risk, lower, stable reward.

Option 1 means investing in companies that are publicly traded (or will be), and hoping the share price accrues to whatever price you're content to sell. There are ways to buy shares in private companies, but I won't go into that. It's beyond the basics. Don't invest anything you can't afford to lose. Know that you'll probably lose. Even if you read the prospectus, understand technical analysis, have reliable news sources, and great timing...you'll still probably lose. More people lose money picking single stocks than gain from them. If you're prepared for that, then go for it. This isn't just for OP, who probably knows this, but for other readers as well.

Option 2: An ETF or Mutual Fund. You can take the really safe route and invest into a vehicle that tracks the whole market, like VTSAX. As long it exists, it will automatically price in the gains and efficiencies made by AI that are reflected in the market.

Or you could invest in an ETF that weights heavily toward tech, at the expense of greater volatility. If you're at a high level, you can essentially build your own bucket. I'd suggest finding a bucket that already contains the companies you're interested in, and then DYOR. My criteria for investing in an ETF/Mutual Fund:

My interests and the company's interests are aligned.
Low fees.
Steady returns.

Using VTSAX as an example. VTSAX is a mutual fund offered by Vanguard. The ETF equivalent is VTI. Vanguard is owned by the investment vehicles it offers. That aligns our interests. VTSAX has a low expense ratio of .04%; it's cheap. It returns an average of approximately 7% a year. Numbers below:

https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtsax#performance-fees

Best of luck.

pre-DrChad t1_ix4es5o wrote on November 20, 2022 at 5:53 PM

How would you buy shares in private companies? Private equity? VC?

nblack88 t1_ix5an9x wrote on November 20, 2022 at 9:23 PM

Both. Unless you have enough money to start your own private equity firm, you could invest indirectly by investing in the firm itself, e.g., Berkshire Hathaway. There are also Mutual Funds and ETFs that invest in private companies, which is another way to gain exposure. Note that these have investment minimums. Don't hold me to the fire for it, but unless I misremember, Vanguard offers one for a 700k minimum. Many options require one to be an Accredited Investor. To qualify, one has to have ~200k in income, assets over 1M, and/or work in the financial industry.

Investing in private companies isn't meant for the average retail investor, and unless one invests as part of a larger fund, they'd likely be disinterested in smaller investment amounts.

pre-DrChad t1_ix5d2hj wrote on November 20, 2022 at 9:39 PM

Yeah I’ve read that most private equity firms require minimum 500k investments for individual investors.

Even for venture capital you need to invest big and be ready to lose all that money if the companies never take off. So realistically you already have to be worth $10M+ to truly participate.