Podcast Summary: How I Invest with David Weisburd

Episode E237: The $150 Trillion Revolution in Private Markets

Date: November 7, 2025
Guest: Kendrick Nguyen, Founder & CEO of Republic
Host: David Weisburd
Location: New York Stock Exchange

Overview

This episode explores the rapid evolution of private markets through tokenization, fractional ownership, and fintech innovation. David Weisburd hosts Kendrick Nguyen, whose platform Republic has helped democratize access to private market investments for retail investors worldwide. They dissect the societal, technical, and regulatory transformations enabling a projected $150 trillion revolution in private markets—making investments once reserved for institutions accessible and engaging for everyone. The discussion delves into tokenization mechanics, the lucrative allure of exclusive assets, the rise of crowd-backed celebrity deals, and the changing landscape of financial literacy and opportunity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tokenization as Financial Infrastructure

• Analogy to the Internet:
  • Tokenization is to capital markets what the internet was to commerce—removing friction, lowering costs, and enabling cross-border transactions at scale.
  • "Tokenization... is the same rail when it comes to investing, trading, and transacting in the capital markets." – Kendrick ([00:34])
• Main Benefits:
  • Access: Breaking down walls for retail participation.
  • Liquidity: Creating liquid markets for illiquid assets.
  • Efficiency & Automation: Speeding transactions and lowering costs globally.

2. Democratizing and Educating Retail Investors

• Widening Participation: Many professionals lack access or knowledge ("None of [my siblings] ever invested in private equity... The level of retail public participation... is shockingly low..." – Kendrick, [01:46]).
• Financial Sophistication:
  • Most Americans cannot define financial terms like "liquidity"
  • Increasing low-barrier participation is "the best way to improve financial know-how". ([03:21])
• Social Good:
  • Expanding access helps address wealth disparity ("the easiest... is to fix lack of financial sophistication and that is by enabling more people to get in." – Kendrick, [04:25]).

3. The $150 Trillion Opportunity

• Huge Market Size:
  • Retail capital moving into privates over the next decade could grow the market to $150 trillion (Lawrence Calcano estimate, relayed at [15:28]).
  • Uber Analogy:
    • "Uber... is now worth five times what used to be the total size of taxis. You're going to see that at a magnitude order larger when it comes to financial products." – Kendrick ([16:09])
• Lowering Minimums:
  • Partnerships with asset managers like Hamilton Lane aim to lower minimums from $5 million to levels accessible to individuals ([13:37-15:28]).

4. What Drives Retail Adoption?

• Gateway Products:
  • Hype around familiar brands (e.g., SpaceX, OpenAI, Taylor Swift) draws first-timers in ([05:46]).
  • Best long-term products are consistent-yield, low-volatility, liquid investments.
• Mirror Tokens:
  • Robinhood and Republic’s experiments with tokens representing SpaceX/OpenAI – retail-friendly derivatives, not direct shares ([07:28-12:55]).
  • "Our role as a technical partner... we did work with our partner in structuring that effort for them in Europe in June 2025." – Kendrick ([07:28])
• Resulting Impact:
  • Robinhood stock jumped ~13% on announcement ([08:23])
  • "The market looked at that token giveaway as a reflection on Robinhood's willingness to embrace tokenization..." – Kendrick ([08:23])

5. Mechanics & Regulation of Tokenized Assets

• How Mirror Tokens Work:
  • Structures like forward contracts or "IOUs" let holders participate in future events (like a company IPO), without direct asset ownership ([11:08-12:55]).
• Regulatory Navigation:
  • Products must be structured to fit within legal frameworks (often as securities; overseen by the SEC) ([12:57]).
  • Deep expertise in legal engineering provides a competitive moat ([42:04]).

6. Broader Societal Impact & Financial Inclusion

• Return on Experience (RoE):
  • For small investments, the learning and sense of participation are as valuable as ROI ([24:47]).
  • "Just the experience learning... that's already the experience, the process of learning." – Kendrick ([24:47])
• Youth Engagement:
  • Proposes financial education via actual investing: "Can you imagine giving inner city high school children $50 each? ...maybe five would go on to become accountants and financial analysts that otherwise they would never be." ([28:07])
• Countering Wealth Disparities:
  • Addresses why younger generations feel excluded from the economic future and how tokenization increases inclusion ([30:03]).

7. Community and Influencer-Led Investing

• Celebrity Crowdsourcing:
  • Envisions influencers (e.g., Jake Paul) leading syndicate deals for millions of fans ([20:30-24:11]).
  • "If Jake Paul came to Republic... leveraging a platform like Republic, it's like a turnkey thing for him." – Kendrick ([22:47])
• Reputation as Skin in the Game:
  • Influence grows or shrinks based on outcomes, democratizing both upside and accountability ([24:11]).

8. The Psychological & Social Dimensions of Investing

• Excitement & Emotional Engagement:
  • Tangible, relatable investments drive excitement and participation, which is often underestimated ("Being excited about your investments... is so underrated." – David, [33:55]).
• Social Proof:
  • The ability to easily share experiences of gains (or at least activity) mirrors the viral growth of things like crypto, sports betting ([39:33-40:47]).

9. The Evolution of Crowdfunding and Secondary Markets

• Crowdfunding's Barriers Lowering:
  • "Now this is the first year that the barrier is low enough... that it can be as cheap as like $5,000." – Kendrick ([37:43])
• Liquidity is the Next Frontier:
  • True mainstream adoption needs robust secondary markets for fractional or startup investments ([39:33-41:51]).
  • Anticipated growth in seamless secondary trading by 2026.

10. Entrepreneurial and Regulatory Lessons

• Legal Expertise as Competitive Edge:
  • "A big part of [building in fintech] is legal engineering." ([42:04])
  • In-house regulatory mastery enables innovation, while large law firms urge caution ([43:39])
• Engage, Don’t Avoid, Regulators:
  • Regulations can be navigated through collaboration and advocacy, not evasion ([45:11]).

11. Real-World Tensions – SpaceX & OpenAI Tokenization

• Rolling Out Without Company Consent:
  • Released tokens reflecting SpaceX/OpenAI performance without company blessing, causing tension but remaining within legal bounds ([46:44-49:56]).
  • "The SpaceX team definitely was not happy with it... But what we have built is well within the existing legal construct..." – Kendrick ([46:54])
• Long-Term Alignment:
  • More retail investors increases alignment with company missions, as seen in pro-Bitcoin policy correlations ([49:10]).

12. Personal Reflections on Resilience and Immigrant Experience

• Immigrant Perspective:
  • Both David and Kendrick share personal stories of immigrant adversity shaping their resilience and drive ([51:50-54:46]).
• Entrepreneurship & Risk:
  • Risk-tolerance and out-of-the-box thinking are recurring themes among immigrant entrepreneurs.

13. Investment Philosophy & Timeless Advice

• Founders Over Ideas:
  • "At the early stage you gotta back the founder." – David ([55:37])
• Resilience & Luck:
  • Staying active in the market across cycles is key—"Just be alive at that point..." – David ([57:55])
• Timeless Advice:
  • "Don't overthink, don't worry so much. Things are going to be just fine..." – Kendrick ([59:14])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On tokenization’s potential:

  • "You’re going to see a more transformative shift to the capital markets as it exists today than commerce in the early 90s... before the internet and the world that we’re living in today." – Kendrick ([18:46])

• On financial education through experience:

  • "Can you think of any more effective way at scale to get young Americans to learn a financial concept than getting one of the celebrity that they love and that by making an investment they learn for the first time what a SAFT is?" – Kendrick ([24:47])

• On social impact:

  • "Getting more people on the boat and feeling like they have equity in the future, even if it is fractional, I think is really powerful." – David ([36:51])

• On Robinhood’s embrace of private assets:

  • "The public, the market looked at that token giveaway as a reflection on Robinhood's willingness to embrace tokenization and penetrate the world of private equity..." – Kendrick ([08:23])

• On overcoming adversity:

  • "The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents being immigrants... my worst day is nothing like what... my parents... have gone through." – Kendrick ([52:08])

• On essential investing psychology:

  • "The number one mistake you can make as an investor is not investing in the first place." – David ([33:55])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction to Tokenization & Its Benefits: [00:25] – [02:49]
• Tokenization and Financial Access/Social Impact: [01:46] – [04:25]
• Products Driving Adoption (SpaceX/OpenAI Tokens): [05:16] – [08:23]
• How Mirror Tokens Work & Regulation: [11:08] – [13:19]
• The $150 Trillion Market Opportunity: [15:28] – [18:46]
• Celebrity & Community Investing Model: [20:30] – [24:47]
• Financial Education Through Small-Scale Investing: [27:02] – [28:07]
• Societal Impact & Countering Wealth Disparity: [30:03] – [33:55]
• Excitement & Emotional Engagement in Investing: [33:55] – [35:02]
• Crowdfunding Evolution & Need for Liquidity: [37:43] – [41:51]
• Fintech Advantage: In-house Legal Engineering: [42:04] – [43:39]
• Republic’s SpaceX/OpenAI Token Roll-Out Story: [46:44] – [49:56]
• Personal Stories and Lessons on Resilience: [51:50] – [54:46]
• Investment Philosophy & Timeless Advice: [55:37] – [59:14]

Conclusion

This episode provides not just a technical and market overview, but a sweeping vision of a more inclusive financial future made possible by tokenization, regulatory innovation, and new models of community investment. It blends macro insights on markets and technology with deeply personal reflections on experience and motivation. At its heart, the episode is both a roadmap for financial democratization and an impassioned case for participation—however small—in the creation of wealth and opportunity for a new generation.