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VC isn't VC anymore

anildash.com

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Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#41

Post by mcmcmc »

sghiassy wrote: post #16
exceptione wrote: post #15

> Since the Cancer Capital firms have become so powerful, the overall balance of power between founders and VCs has flipped; instead of founders having a company that VCs would try to fund, now VCs publish extremist political manifestos, and “founders” are just the people who are selected to carry out parts of those plans > The rest of the world doesn’t know: New founders and workers entering the tech industry are un…

It’s the second gilded age Hopefully this one will pass, just as the first did

The Gilded Age didn’t just “pass”. It was ended by strong unions and antitrust legislation (and enforcement). Passivity will kill us if we let the oligarchs have their way. Hope is not a plan. Appeasement will have no more success than it did in WWII.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#42

Post by agfs »

random3 wrote: post #38
52ahf wrote: post #23

Anil Dash writes what people want to hear (except for boring medical analogies). He writes against Big-AI, but supports AI (small?) and copyright theft at the EFF, where he is a board member . I'm getting tolerated opposition vibes here.

So A16Z is the largest spender on politics, but Anil Dash's "momma is.." https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/a-group-funded-by-andreess... https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/technology/andreessen-hor...

Do you think people who suspect tolerated opposition would not also criticize A16Z? How about investigating controlled opposition financed by A16Z or others?

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#43

Post by s1artibartfast »

RicoElectrico wrote: post #5

Likewise, stock market IPOs are a parody now - not means of getting financing, but dumping the paper on the retail after for the insiders and VCs to realize their gains.

Can you name a recent IPO that didn't put funds in the corporate coffers?

If the complaint is that people are investing in companies that are a Bad Bet, the solution is simple. Don't buy stocks that are you think are losers. That's the definition of insanity.

If someone wants to blindly invest money with zero diligence, then they have to be willing to accept the returns of a zero diligence bet.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#44

Post by xyst »

VC, private equity, angel investor, vulture capitalist.

All the same to me. All of these entities have ruined previous workplaces in one way or another. Effectively stealing years of my life that I put my labor into.

These rich cunts are the reason everything is shittier and the term "enshittification" exists in our modern vernacular

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#45

Post by ericd »

aliasxneo wrote: post #28

I've been in an interesting spot the last few months. I've pitched probably two dozen or so VCs and, and while almost every case showed interest, it was quickly followed by "rules" and "desires" that were antithetical to the product. The product I am building is a decentralized trust system. The word "trust" is literally in the name. It requires very specific decisions and a very specific organizational and legal str…

Well, is there a clear route to being a >$10B business? If not, it's probably not a good match for VC. But that's OK.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#46

Post by exceptione »

bko wrote: post #18

[flagged]

  > And did you know pension funds invest in this stuff?(which is bad?)
Not if this were something healthy. This wouldn't be the first time joe average is holding the bag when the rich set the house on fire again. The USA economy is particularly brittle (as in: not diversified) in that regard.

I can understand how the article might conflict with personally held notions and thus might look odd, especially as the weird dealings of the tech accelerationists do not find much press coverage. The only thing I can do is recommending to keep your mind open for new info, the article mentions he will follow up on the bullet points. The author has another previous article [1] that references Paul Krugman's article "The rich are crazier than you and me"[2], that might be an interesting read alongside the other pointers. As an aside, I also recommend to watch the video at the end that goes into Andreessen hiring murderer Daniel Penny.

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/robert-kennedy-jr... 2. https://www.anildash.com/2023/07/07/vc-qanon/

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#47

Post by alexashka »

VC was good when a guy with no technical skills raised 10s of millions of dollars. That was when VC was good, right?

This guy has been grifting his entire career but it's those other people who are the problem, guys!

He's not wrong about VC but he's another Chamath - a guy who grifts a thing to death, moves on to the next grift and goes 'look, that grift I'm no longer doing - it's bad, very bad!'

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#48

Post by exceptione »

bix6 wrote: post #25

I’m a VC and agree with much of this. The mega firms have totally warped VC and the desire for massive cash appreciation has led to a host of bad characters getting involved. I still love working with early stage companies but it is hard to cut your own lane when these mega groups control so many aspects of the stack and have such outsized capital and political influence. There are so many issues destroying early sta…

  > but it is hard to cut your own lane when these mega groups control so many aspects of the stack and have such outsized capital and political influence
Are you able to shed some light on this? It would be interesting to hear what people like you come across.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#49

Post by xyst »

aliasxneo wrote: post #28

I've been in an interesting spot the last few months. I've pitched probably two dozen or so VCs and, and while almost every case showed interest, it was quickly followed by "rules" and "desires" that were antithetical to the product. The product I am building is a decentralized trust system. The word "trust" is literally in the name. It requires very specific decisions and a very specific organizational and legal str…

Unfortunately your product doesn’t fit into Peter Thiel’s "vision" of the world.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#50

Post by cjkaminski »

bix6 wrote: post #25

I’m a VC and agree with much of this. The mega firms have totally warped VC and the desire for massive cash appreciation has led to a host of bad characters getting involved. I still love working with early stage companies but it is hard to cut your own lane when these mega groups control so many aspects of the stack and have such outsized capital and political influence. There are so many issues destroying early sta…

Based on my experience on the fundraising side, I'm inclined to agree with your perspective. One small nit to pick: I think policy changes can happen. However, it's hard for me to imagine meaningful change occurring before a catastrophic event. How big would the blast radius be? Obviously no one knows, but I hope it's closer in scope to "The Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank" as opposed to "The Collapse of Lehman Brothers".
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