This might be satire, but in case it isn't: there are plenty of very rich people that are very dumb. And plenty of brilliant people that are destitute. This disparity is even moreso skewed in industries like finance, which tends to favor luck way more than, e.g., in startup land where you need things like customers and product market fit, so "faking it until you make it" is much harder.
Most of the "investment" that companies like OpenSea/FTX/etc. have been getting is pure gambling by the likes of a16z and other institutional investors. There's no traditional "exit" to pursue here, and the whole strategy is essentially a pump and dump (often involving arcane tokenomics) where VCs dump on retail and make 10-100x returns.
There's no technology, no value, hardly any users, and if you're not sure who the sucker is, it's probably you.
and the whole strategy is essentially a pump and dump (often involving arcane tokenomics) where VCs dump on retail and make 10-100x returns.
A lot of people didn't see this. VCs used their reputation to pump a token. Then they dump the token almost immediately on retail. This was a much faster way to make money than waiting years for a traditional startup to exit.
VCs were in on the scams.
This is why I lost complete respect for a16z and hate that crypto-shill Garry Tan will run Y Combinator.
> This is why I lost complete respect for a16z and hate that crypto-shill Garry Tan will run Y Combinator.
Even though I understand this from an ethical standpoint, this is the entire job of venture capital: make a ton of money as fast as possible while minimizing risk. Crypto is literally the perfect vehicle for this. They can't do this in traditional markets because actual hedge funds like Jane Street and Two Sigma will absolutely demolish them. So I think that a16z, Sequoia, etc. have been brilliantly making their clients a lot of money. If we had money in their fund, we'd both probably be very happy campers.
I blame governments for being slow regulating crypto and I blame individuals for being greedy. Imo, blaming VCs for making money is like blaming water it's wet.
You're saying this as if VC were some natural phenomenon and not people. VC are people, VC i one of those things that are mostly only people. Those people choose to use financial vehicules and strategies that are not ethical.
> make a ton of money as fast as possible while minimizing risk.
I like to think that the right way to do this is by creating lots of lasting value. Many VC wins make them money and create value for the company, employees, users, world.
It’s not exclusive that they must create fake bullshit to make money. Funding Apple makes money and results in hardware, software, and innovation. Pumping lottery and Ponzi schemes just exploits value from poor suckers.
I blame governments for being slow regulating crypto and I blame individuals for being greedy. Imo, blaming VCs for making money is like blaming water it's wet.
I'm not blaming them. I just lost respect for them.
Most of the "investment" that companies like OpenSea/FTX/etc. have been getting is pure gambling by the likes of a16z and other institutional investors. There's no traditional "exit" to pursue here, and the whole strategy is essentially a pump and dump (often involving arcane tokenomics) where VCs dump on retail and make 10-100x returns.
There's no technology, no value, hardly any users, and if you're not sure who the sucker is, it's probably you.