How Adventure Capitalism Works

The stereotype of investors as particularly boring, statistic-obsessed, stuffy individuals holds no water with this one. Adventure capitalists are the anathema to that image. They are investors, but ones with far higher "risk tolerance" than other investors. This might make them more likely to invest in trendy, off-the-wall products than in larger companies or established investment options.

Adventure Capitalists, then, are often individuals. They range from keen-eyed, moneyed individuals who are prepared to scour the land for little gems of companies to invest in, to more reckless individuals, or even groups of individuals, who are almost willing to throw money at things.

Although it is, therefore, easy to dismiss Adventure Capitalists as insignificant—just a group of people who gamble, in effect, and waste their money—this is a naïve position to take. Many of the most prevalent companies around today exist because of Adventure Capitalists. Someone took a chance on an idea that no one else had faith in, and it just so happened to turn into the next big thing. Just think of how cynical people were of the internet, Starbucks, cars at one point, and how today we all so wish we owned shares in companies like Facebook.

Adventure Capitalist Example

Say that you are a successful businessperson who has just sold their businesses and plans to retire on the profit. You hope that you can increase your wealth by doing comparatively little. Plus, you want to ensure that your fortune does not deplete in value—say, if the dollar were to collapse for no good reason.

You purchase shares in several large corporations, and you buy a significant amount of property. However, you still have some money left over that you want to invest. Therefore, you go out and try to find something comparatively small but that you just think could be a good bet. You invest and get involved with the company as the main shareholder—you have time on your hands as you are now retired. This is a common thing for Adventure Capitalists—to become very involved in the venture they invest in.

Although this seems small, there are hundreds of thousands of people like you doing the same thing. The sheer number of adventure capitalists represents a significant sum of money invested in "Adventure Capital."

Adventure Capitalist vs. "AdVenture Capitalist: The Game"

"Adventure Capitalist" is a fairly colloquial term; it is not something coined by a famous economist or written about by a well-known businessman. It is rather a phrase coined to describe the behavior of a certain type of investor.

In this same joking, conversational tone, the game "AdVenture Capitalist" was released in 2015. It involves a kind of "dream capitalism" where players slowly progress to create large monopolies over fictional markets, gradually making huge amounts of money through very little personal work or innovation. This is arguably the aim of some real-life Adventure Capitalists!