People have been bullish on the stock market since the pandemic, riding huge highs and short-term crazy returns on crypto, start-ups. We all know there’s trouble when even dentists are trying to trade and housewives are giving stock pick advice on youtube. And now, save for the few prudent, true experts in world economics and those adeptly immune to the bandwagon effect, are lamenting their losses. It is during this volatile time, that I suddenly realized not all investments are monetary.
Friendships are an asset like any other investment. The earlier you spot the opportunity, the longer you hold it, the likelier you reap the benefits. Like a stock on a 10-year, 20-year, even 50-year horizon, the long run expectation trends toward gains. As with any investment, there will be periods of downs like the adolescent years, jealousy dating, competitive careers, etc. And there will be periods of ups like parties, trips together, joyful tears at milestones, etc. An invested friendship usually offers overwhelmingly positive memories, experiences, laughs, and in some cases, multiple subsidiaries like children or pets. Some investments start out small, just you and the friend, growing the friendship, and as it succeeds over the years, your friendship starts developing additional shareholders and interested investors. Whether it’s a growing spin-off of more friend networks, or parents, all these people get to enjoy the gains as well.
As life passes, you’ll see certain friendship investments go bust after a few years, like a company that just didn’t have a sustainable business model, or you stopped believing in the mission of the joint-venture. That happens all the time too; in those cases, you can just exit your position and go separate ways. The “bad” stock may well continue to grow and make gains, just through different investors. Meanwhile, you take your time and money and invest in other like-minded friends or put more energy into your existing portfolio.
I invested in a friendship that had such high potential and seriously, was a tech unicorn blazing a $10 billion market cap. Over eight years, I dedicated so much of my love, faith, and energy into becoming the majority shareholder of this friendship. I believed this friendship strengthened my own prospects, and together, we could expand into emerging markets or discover new growth opportunities as we matured. It was truly going to be one of the best investments decisions ever. I was never going to have to research or waste money on another asset again. I guess that is the definition of a best friend.
Unfortunately, I never saw it coming — the friendship tanked into the most ridiculous crash and filed for bankruptcy so fast that in a matter of four months, there was nothing left. Nothing except a few pages and photos of our ideas and what could have been. Nothing but haunted shadows reminding me of negative returns. A few years later, I am still suffering the consequences of this loss; and I think I will hurt from this lost investment for the rest of my life.
