4 ms·
> Multi-billion dollar companies happen when non-obvious ideas and huge market needs meet perfect execution. We've seen it before our eyes — Uber, Airbnb, Dropb
by 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
> Multi-billion dollar companies happen when non-obvious ideas and huge market needs meet perfect execution. We've seen it before our eyes — Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Instacart...
It's kind of funny to see some of these companies uses as examples of "perfect execution." Two of Dropbox's latest late-stage investors have already reportedly written down their investments by ~20%[1], and Uber and Instacart are facing class action lawsuits that, in worst-case outcomes that are not entirely improbable, could upend their business models.
> ...it's not about avoiding loss or minimizing downside.
This is silly. Good fund managers are always concerned about downside. That doesn't mean they don't take on risk, but they try to understand and mitigate risk as approprite for the kind of fund they're managing. In the world of VC, there's a reason liquidation preferences, ratchets, etc. exist.
Just because FOMO in this market has made it difficult for VCs to get terms they'd normally like doesn't mean they aren't exposed to downside risk. As Warren Buffett once said, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." When the cycle turns, we'll learn which VCs didn't have their speedos on.
[1] https://www.theinformation.com/mutual-funds-mark-down-dropbox-holdings https://www.theinformation.com/mutual-funds-mark-down-dropbo...