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VC isn't VC anymore

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Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#71

Post by bix6 »

exceptione wrote: post #48
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.

There’s a lot so we would need to talk in person. But basically the power law is way too powerful right now. The impact that a small group of people can have is too much and it’s distorting things. This is not unique to VC, the concentration is insane right now across the board.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#72

Post by jansport123 »

reasonableklout wrote: post #69

Wow, TIL a16z hired the NYC subway guy as a partner purely as a political stunt. This on top of the $115M in the midterms, them no longer legally being a VC firm, and recent discussion on dark patterns in their portfolio [1]. I'm inclined to agree with the thesis of the article especially with regards to this firm. Looking forward to the other articles in the series. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49416055

a16z has always struck me as the shadiest vc - i associate them with NFT's, crypto and god knows what. They personify the amorality of chasing money over anything (Maybe indicative of SV culture these days in general).

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#73

Post by dv_dt »

rconti wrote: post #61

I was thinking about this the other day in regard to Flock. There's simply no way this company will fail, despite the public outcry, because the rich people in charge will not _let_ it fail.

Of course it can fail, just like the AI circular investment moves can fail just like the Soviet Union failed. Too much decisive power in too few hands, disconnected from reality, disconnected from competition, disconnected from outside community criticism. It fails open loop. A lot of money can temporarily buffer the failure, but already we see world wide inflation and interest rate increases from the open loop decisions of the most powerful class.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#74

Post by lotsofpulp »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #65
hirako2000 wrote: post #24

> But a cancer grows from a cell that a body needs in small, healthy amounts, and that turns deadly when it grows without limit until it harms, or even kills, its host I thought a cancer grew from a defective cell that is able to divide and grow to over take the healthy ones.

I would not focus on individual cells but the ability to grow super fast, which itself is not a defect since it's important during development, but the checks on this ability can be removed by later mutations/metabolic issues

The problem is using cancer as a singular noun in this context.

>a cancer grows from a cell that a body needs in small, healthy amounts

"A" cancer does not grow from a cell, a cell is a cancer cell if it keeps dividing when it should not. The cancer cells as a collective are the disease referred to as "cancer".

If they had written

"cancer grows from cells that a body needs in small, healthy amounts, and that turns deadly when it grows without limit until it harms, or even kills, its host"

that would have made more sense to me.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#75

Post by bix6 »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #62
bix6 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Ethics is at the forefront of everything I do both personally and professionally. I used to serve on an ethics in business council. All the investments we make are grounded in genuinely improving the world. It’s unfortunate that so much money flows to certain VC firms when people like me exist since I reckon I’m much more aligned with what the general population wants.

> It’s unfortunate that so much money flows to certain VC firms when people like me exist since I reckon I’m much more aligned with what the general population wants. You sound like a pretty good dude The study of Ethics is such a double edged sword. On one hand you have people who study ethics to think about how to treat people well, on the other hand you have people who study ethics in order to treat people as poor…

I’m trying. I love startups and want as many good entrepreneurs to succeed as possible. All the VC drama causes people to forget the whole point.

It’s inherent with true capitalism. You have to be willing to forego some profit to actually treat people right and for some that’s just too much.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#76

Post by bix6 »

cjkaminski wrote: post #50
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 Broth…

I don’t really have hope because big money controls politics. Everything gets steered towards capital’s interest instead of humanity’s.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#77

Post by r_lee »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #70
r_lee wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is what it is, the money got to everyone's head not too long ago we were amazed at Apple hitting $1 trillion mkt cap and elon reaching $100 bil now we're waiting for the first trillionaires to show up

Elon Musk was already minted the worlds first trillionaire back in June wasn't he? Pretty insane from 100 billion in 2020 to 1 trillion in 2026. Not a sign of a supremely broken system at all

yup. how are you ever supposed to compete with that capital moat?

and I'm not an Elon hater, I just don't see how this system can be sustained

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#78

Post by watwut »

cjkaminski wrote: post #50
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 Broth…

Apparently The Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is not enough to force change.

The Collapse of Lehman Brothers is also not enough for long term change, also apparently.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#79

Post by zipy124 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #68
rconti wrote: post #61

I was thinking about this the other day in regard to Flock. There's simply no way this company will fail, despite the public outcry, because the rich people in charge will not _let_ it fail.

Strong agree, spot on. There will always be wealthy folks behind the scenes who will arrange for the capital theatrics to land the way they want (Loopt was a failure and Sam Altman still ended up running YC because of vibes, Leopold Aschenbrenner blew up Situational Awareness and wealthy friends [Griffin and Citadel] bailed him out, for example). The best you can do is political recourse (note the wide social efforts…

Griffin and citadel less bailed him out, and more circled like sharks and made out with a good deal TBF.

Re: VC isn't VC anymore

#80

Post by Ifkaluva »

Henchman21 wrote: post #35
rglover wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All things pass. The question is what the fallout will look like for everyone who doesn't have their hand in the cookie jar.

I'm more interested in what happens to those with their hands in. They need to lose those hands .

“Thieves of private property pass their lives in chains. Thieves of public property, in riches and luxury”. —Cato the Elder
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