how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
Secret is to not take the pitch meeting seriously and play league of legends.
"you in"? that's probably how he pitched it too : )
FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
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Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#82how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
That's one theory. Of course, given the depth of financial depravity on display here and the incredible thinness of the financial defense, one must also entertain the theory that they did do the due diligence, they were aware of how dangerous this was, and they invested anyhow for other reasons. And that those reasons are probably not good. There have been many cases where companies go to great lengths to do accounti…
Who here is going to start a kickstarter for those books?
I mean - who doesn’t love pop up books?
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does effective altruism have to do with VCs that invested in FTX and their due diligence? If anything effective altruism is downstream from that.
Sam used the EA card and his generous donations to places like MIT's Media Lab in the same way Epstein did. This not only earned him tons of goodwill from the scientific community, but it also allowed him to rub shoulders with the likes of Tony Blair and Clinton. Who wouldn't want to invest in someone who is helping to make the world better and has all these aforementioned personalities and institutions helping to pr…
How does this relate to effective altruism as a whole? SBF does these things... therefore this kind of behavior is endemic in the effective altruism community?
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#84how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
My superficial theory is that they probably invested for inside information, then somehow shorted them on their downfall.
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#85how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
plato once said, storytellers rule the world
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#86This whole mess makes me wonder, what if they did everything right, with proper accounting and compliance practices etc.? Would we have ended up with a successful crypto business that would advance the whole field forward? Perhaps Coinbase is an example of that, though maybe not as well known due to less drama?
My impression is Coinbase is the thing that FTX was claiming to be, a well run exchange. Looking back, them purchasing the naming rights to Miami's stadium and all the A list celebrities prompting it just added this fake layer of trust. It's very easy to see the celebrity endorsements, puff pieces and the companies name plastered over a stadium as endorsements of how solid the business is, after all, a bunch of kids…
FTX wasn't just like Coinbase, they were a better exchange than Coinbase with more products.
They just ruined that by using the exchange's money to bail out Alameda's unrelated investments. As far as I can tell if they hadn't done that Alameda would've died and FTX would've just kept being a good exchange.
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#87how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
They weren't investing on fundamentals, the books didn't matter. His close association and largesse with regulators, media, and politicians along with his cloak of EA made regulatory capture and the promise of monopoly-like profits possible.
VC's aren't stupid, even if they thought it was 80% likely he was an outright fraud, it's still worth the bet for a 20% chance at 50-100x returns.
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#88how did ftx successfully raise so much vc money recently? do these top vc firms do no due diligence?
That's one theory. Of course, given the depth of financial depravity on display here and the incredible thinness of the financial defense, one must also entertain the theory that they did do the due diligence, they were aware of how dangerous this was, and they invested anyhow for other reasons. And that those reasons are probably not good. There have been many cases where companies go to great lengths to do accounti…
"FTX's books don't so much have red flags as that they are printed on red flags, with ink derived from red flags, a custom-made red cover made out of more red flags, and each page, when opened, has pop-up red flags along with a little electronic speaker that plays Red Flag by Antigoni while you get sprayed with Red Flag perfume [1]."
OMG - I'm dying here. You really shouldn't have buried that at the bottom of your reply because many will miss it. Perfectly written. I love it.
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's one theory. Of course, given the depth of financial depravity on display here and the incredible thinness of the financial defense, one must also entertain the theory that they did do the due diligence, they were aware of how dangerous this was, and they invested anyhow for other reasons. And that those reasons are probably not good. There have been many cases where companies go to great lengths to do accounti…
>And that those reasons are probably not good. what would those be?
Money laundering.
Re: FTX used corporate funds to purchase employee homes, new filing shows
#90"including a loan of FTT tokens to BlockFi Inc. in a principal amount of FTT tokens valued at $250 million as of September 30, 2022." [1]
[1] https://pacer-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/33/188450/042020648...