Leo (the Actor) Is investing in Start-ups!

I'm not usually known for posting on start-up investment capital stories or even celebrity endorsement however, when the two together turn up and invade my space, I'm afraid something is going to have to be said. Leo DiCaprio, the Hollywood star is starting his run of VC investment portfolio by starting the $4Million first round investments into Mobli (a photo sharing app).




Mobli is a real-time visual media platform made up of subject-based channels such as people, places and topics. Mobli enables users to see the world through other people’s eyes!

I got this story from Techmeme and of course Techcrunch, but whats more important is that Leo is investing at all! The Actor has no doubt got a shed load of money lying around and feels it would be better served if it were invested wisely, but I cant think of a more dangerous investment strategy at the moment than a "random" start-up in the Valley!

Leo is trying to follow in the footsteps of other celeb investors like Lady GAGA and of course Ashton Kutcher. But what does this mean for tech industry? Well, as many would say, when the celeb's invest its time to get out! This happened with the Housing "bubble" and the last Tech "bubble" - why?

Well, its actually quite simple. Leo is not stupid (and neither are Gaga and Kutcher for that matter) but I doubt Leo is making the initial investment decisions, I doubt that Leo is the tech geek we think he is, and therefore where is he getting his info from? Well, thats the problem, when Leo gets his investment advise about where to invest, these are based on viable results and predicted continuation of performance, in a word ---- Goldman Sachs (or any investment management company), unfortunately, this tends to signal the end of the "good deal" and the start of the end!

My worry is that, Mobli will gain PR (well more than the Techcrunch, and this post) from having Leo on board and will have an instant marketable database (with Leo's twitter feed etc..) and could lead to products and services being pushed forward based on celebrity appeal rather than technological or digital proficiency.

Let hope not.....