well, sure, but we are talking about late stage. A late stage company expecting a 10X increase in value without going public? from the perspective of the investors, they gave up a nearly worthless option on the upside, while protecting their downside quite a bit, while preserving the positive optics for the company and employees
Because they are a different class of investor, with a more conservative outlook. T-Rowe Price doesn't believe in the 10x. It just wants the guaranteed 2x. This is where the "investors are looking for a fixed-income replacement" part of Sam's thesis comes into play.
perhaps, but T-Rowe Price needs to match a benchmark. So if benchmark rises 10x and they only get 2x, they will suffer quite a bit. More likely, they expect this company to go public way before hitting the 3x mark.