VCs aren’t your friends

Re: starting off from different conditions - it's the world we live in, and it's inherent in people who have found success (for the most part) - if I have the means to give my kids the best chance for success, why wouldn't I do so? If that means making sure they go to a good school, or get a good job, or a loan to start a business, by all means, it's a no-brainer.

>What I have an issue with is the fungibility of one’s parent’s or lover’s or advocates wealth into further capture. That’s the thing I’ll be running for office to make not only a felony but one that gets enforced.

Agree 110%. You've got my vote (and donation, when you have a campaign and I have money to donate). Question is though, what are the mechanisms for catching this, much less enforcing it? It's one thing to be one of those multi-billionaires who send their kids to the best private schools, but at the same time take advantage of every tax loophole, lobby politicians to slash public education. It's another thing to be moderately successful and do right by society, yet also do one's best to make sure their offspring get every chance to succeed. Success does beget success (in most cases) so policing it is tough IMO but a worthwhile goal.

I'm paraphrasing the Prof G podcast here, but the system needs to really do 2 things. 1. Make sure the people that society would typically forget about (the bottom 90%) get a chance to enter the top 10%, and 2. for the top 10% to produce someone who enters the top .0001% who then makes enough money that taxing that person (or persons) helps #1.

>You sound like a cool person who is aware you supplied two of three ingredients around success: long hours and table stakes, but my quasi-informed read of your remarks is that you paid that rake.

Thank you. I was definitely supplied a lot by my parents, who raised a large family and my mom never had to work (for money - she still had to raise 4 kids, 2 adopted kids, a whole bunch of neighbors, and a dog). My dad worked his ass off and did well for himself, and for his community. Of course, he also had a great start in life (his father was a very successful surgeon) and was afforded top opportunities. The respect for him doesn't change though. I have put in my time, and dealt with a lot of BS, but hopefully one day I'll make it. That said, I also was born with crippling ADHD and am somewhere on the ASD spectrum, so it ain't all roses and sunshine - I barely passed through school and didn't get a good job. But I'm aware of where I came from, and how that influences my worldview. Some of my age-group peers who are doing much better than me financially and socially don't have that awareness, or are blind to the inherent biases that come from it. Odd, but I guess that's how it is.

>It also sounds like you understand good cards tend to be the dominant term, and I find that even more noteworthy and admirable than the first two.

It is what it is! I realize how lucky I was to be brought up when, where and how I did. Some don't, and those tend to be people that get suckered into crazy political beliefs or those that have no idea how society actually is versus how they think it is. Sad, but again, that's just how it is.

Good day to you as well; when you stop by my city to campaign, I will buy you coffee.

""We want to be the first check in." "We add value" 'We are responsible investors". "We're in for the long run". "We back outliers" and the oh-so-famous "Let me know how I can be helpful".

then what they should look for is a skilled operational partner with a high-ish IQ and a stable personality, almost certainly with access to money that can be used for bootstrapping the business. You know, a virtually nonexistent unicorn in the circles that most people operate. Someone who is as rare as the right spouse. That combination is worth a hefty percentage.

VC money isn't optimal for the initial startup phase. Everyone will be happier, detail nitpicking will be nonexistent, and the VC involvement will be more natural at the point in which customer acquisition rate and the cost of that volume is outpacing revenue, which should be the exponential growth curve often in years 5-10. Sometimes an acquisition comes soon after.

If a founder cares about their business, then asking VC to essentially be their startup partner is asking for trouble in a lot of instances.