As you know, VC is a reputation economy and the VCs all talk and collude. VCs can get whatever terms they want because they know that if you say no, they'll bad-mouth you to the rest of the investor community. It's extortion.
People don't end up in those kinds of deals because they're stupid. Not all of them, at least. Often, they have no other choice because an investor will either back them or end them, the latter being a power they have in this backward, feudalistic reputation economy.
If you feel that way about investors, don't take outside investment. We didn't. Things worked out peachy.
It's a strange thing, to feel entitled to set the terms under which people give you their money. We didn't like the available terms. I don't have much nice to say about the venture capitalists I've known. But I don't have an elaborate worldview built around those impressions, and you do. You should try to shake it off.
Comments
As you know, VC is a reputation economy and the VCs all talk and collude. VCs can get whatever terms they want because they know that if you say no, they'll bad-mouth you to the rest of the investor community. It's extortion.
People don't end up in those kinds of deals because they're stupid. Not all of them, at least. Often, they have no other choice because an investor will either back them or end them, the latter being a power they have in this backward, feudalistic reputation economy.
If you feel that way about investors, don't take outside investment. We didn't. Things worked out peachy.
It's a strange thing, to feel entitled to set the terms under which people give you their money. We didn't like the available terms. I don't have much nice to say about the venture capitalists I've known. But I don't have an elaborate worldview built around those impressions, and you do. You should try to shake it off.