Lane Kawaoka, PE | Media kit: pre-IPO and angel investing guest
thewealthelevator.com/preipospeaker
Pronunciation: Kawaoka = kah-wah-OH-kah. Goes by Lane.

== Talking points ==
- Why companies stay private longer, and what public-market investors miss as a result
- The retail path vs direct access: SPVs, secondaries and fund structures
- AI "picks and shovels": infrastructure, energy and compute vs the app layer
- How an engineer evaluates a private company when the numbers are thin
- Fees, carry and layered SPVs: what to ask before you sign
- Liquidity: lockups, secondary sales and planning for a long hold
- What an angel group pitch meeting teaches you about founders
- How investors think about sizing private company positions in a net worth

== Suggested questions ==
1. Why are so many great companies staying private longer?
2. How does an accredited investor actually get into a pre-IPO company?
3. What's an SPV, and what are the hidden costs?
4. Why focus on picks and shovels instead of the big AI names?
5. What red flags make you pass on a private deal?
6. How do you think about getting your money back out?
7. What have you learned sitting in angel pitch meetings?
8. How do you think about sizing pre-IPO positions inside a portfolio?

== Extra talking points ==
- Primary vs secondary shares, and why the share class matters
- Valuation marks vs real prices: why a "markup" is not a return
- Concentration risk: one great company vs a basket of private positions
- How energy demand from data centers links AI investing to the energy sector
- Why post-exit founders are often the first to look at private company investing
- What happens at IPO: lockups, distributions and tax planning with a CPA
- Pre-IPO inside a wider plan that includes real estate, energy and cash reserves

== Extra questions ==
9. You were an engineer for 12 years. How does that shape how you judge a startup?
10. What's the difference between buying primary shares and buying on the secondary market?
11. How do you know whether a valuation is real?
12. What does a layered SPV look like, and why should investors care?
13. How long should someone expect to wait for liquidity?
14. You came from real estate. What surprised you most about private company investing?
15. What question should every investor ask before wiring money into a private deal?

== Lightning round ==
- Most overrated thing in AI right now?
- Best book on money that isn't your own?
- One trait you look for in a founder?
- What's something you believed about investing at 25 that you no longer believe?

Note: Lane keeps every episode educational. He does not name companies he has invested in, specific SPVs or offerings, valuations or returns, and he does not predict IPO dates or prices.
