How To Invest In OpenAI and Anthropic Before They Go Public

Shrinking illiquidity premium

While average VC funds historically returned 17-18% versus NASDAQ's 12-13%, recent public market outperformance and questionable paper marks may reduce true outperformance to as little as 100 basis points, challenging the value of locked-up capital.

Asymmetric allocation only

Private markets should comprise only 10-20% of a portfolio after establishing a 70-90% index fund foundation, serving as asymmetric bets rather than core holdings.

Wealth creation migration

Companies now stay private for an average of 13 years while the number of public companies has halved, concentrating value creation in private markets accessible mainly to insiders and locking out average Americans from AI economic booms.

Adverse selection risk

Non-tech-hub investors face adverse selection by default, often funding local connections rather than top-tier talent that concentrates in San Francisco and New York, making individual angel investing statistically unfavorable.

Power law dynamics

Venture returns follow extreme power laws where 10-15% of deals drive nearly all returns, making high-sample-size indexing essential—investing in 5 companies risks total loss while 300 provides portfolio safety.

Two-tier investment strategy

USVC delegates early-stage investing to top fund managers while making direct late-stage investments and buying LP stakes in specific companies where valuation conviction exists.

Public accessibility with quarterly liquidity

USVC operates as a tender offer fund open to all Americans with $500 minimums (not just accredited investors), targeting quarterly liquidity at NAV rather than indefinite lockups.

NAV-based pricing integrity

Unlike closed-end VC ETFs that trade at extreme premiums or discounts to underlying assets (e.g., Destiny at 100x NAV, Robinhood at 2x), USVC ensures investors transact at actual net asset value.

Current AI holdings

The fund holds positions in SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI, Sierra, Lora, Mercury, and Superbase, while allocating 20% to new vintage funds to capture future companies that will be larger than today's giants.

IPO regulatory friction

AI labs delay going public because hyper-growth makes installing financial controls and audit readiness difficult—you can innovate at AI speed but regulation moves slowly, creating a compliance bottleneck.

Anthropic's imminent IPO

Anthropic may go public later this year, which would make it one of the fastest companies to IPO in recent history, potentially triggering a wave among frontier labs watching for first-mover advantages.

Political wealth sharing

Proposals for AI labs to give 5% equity to the government acknowledge public exclusion from private wealth creation, essentially admitting these companies function as national assets that should be public.