I'm not convinced instos or sophs are any better at selecting...

I'm not convinced instos or sophs are any better at selecting high growth stocks than experienced retail punters. But I don't doubt they're better at managing risk. In my experience, they approach investments with an eye, first and foremost, to safeguarding against loss. They may be prepared to miss out on growth opportunities if it means reducing exposure to capital erosion.

In my opinion, the potential for further dilution over the next 6-24 months would loom large in the mind of any interested party that management met during the roadshow. The growth potential for KPO, though real, is highly speculative and long term. Dilution, these investors may have concluded, is a more likely and imminent possibility. Perhaps they all simply viewed the risk-reward as unappealing.

I believe management is currently pivoting its investor engagement approach. It seems to me the co is ramping up its focus on hotcopper and reliance on this forum as a source of buy demand and market liquidity. To my eye it's endeavouring to frame KPO' potential in language that retail investors find seductive. It's even recruiting from within our ranks to have the message delivered by surrogates it thinks we trust.