[qeternity]

Spoken like someone who has never started a business. Brex raised much less than $5b and Capital One apparently thinks it is worth more than that (otherwise they wouldn’t buy it).

This is called value creation.

[jjfoooo4]

I think the investors who put $300m in at a $12b valuation would disagree

[qeternity]

I don’t think you understand how liquidation preferences work.

They will get $300m back.

Opportunity cost sure. But zero nominal loss.

[pinnochio]

Definitely. No company has ever overpaid for another company. No fraud or FOMO-driven overvaluation has ever occurred in an acquisition. And all acquisitions have always turned out for the best. It's all 100% pure value creation.

[solarkraft]

Your statement is true on average because the world’s economy is continuing to function.

[qeternity]

Definitely. And some random guy on HN knows the value of Brex to Capital One better than Capital One does.

Brex can be worth $5b today and also be worth less in the future. These two realities don’t conflict. Acquisitions can and do end poorly. But the vast majority work well. I am not sure what you don’t understand about that?