This isn't really true. If you actually wanted to and tried to put in early stage money, you could. Lots of startups raise their first few hundred K from "friends and family" type rounds and are usually readily looking for small investors to write small (25k or even less) checks.
I would bet within a couple degrees of separation within your network you can find someone raising money for a project you're at least somewhat interested in. There are also platforms like AngelList that are making it easier to fund deals with small money.
How might an individual know about and do some baseline reasonable due diligence on these opportunities as identically easily as he could with a publicly listed stock?
And why do VC's bother going through all the work, if the outcome is no different than if they'd simply have left things be as they were, with these companies getting funding from the public markets?
This is exactly what the Tesla does. It periodically "checks" that you are there by prompting you to hold the steering wheel (requiring a firm grip, not just hands on the wheel). If you don't, the car slows to a stop and disables autopilot for the remainder of the drive.
This isn't true at all. I have driven my Model S almost every day with autopilot for the past couple years. After getting used to it, you can very easily "feel" when turning and braking is supposed to happen and have plenty of time to take over if it doesn't. At first when I was getting used to it I would disengage frequently. Now I hardly do, and when I need to I have plenty of time to react.
Honestly the autopilot has changed my driving experience and I hate when I have to drive cars without it.
I do agree that you need to be aware of your surroundings and ready to take over, though.
I would bet within a couple degrees of separation within your network you can find someone raising money for a project you're at least somewhat interested in. There are also platforms like AngelList that are making it easier to fund deals with small money.