Narrative Distillation

Investor Kevin Kwok argues that the role of investment banks in the IPO process has fundamentally weakened for tech: where banks once acted as "finishing schools" gating which companies were ready for public markets, the discovery problem is solved — Tiger, Coatue, Durable, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity already know the companies. The most leveraged founders are those who own their narrative directly and compound it over time, communicating to investors without bank intermediation. SPACs and Direct Listings matter not for cost structure but for narrative control.