5 ms·

Silicon Valley Is Not Wall Street: Tom Perkins

31 points by jakarta 17y ago

lisper 17y ago
If you search for the title of this article in Google News and click on the link there you can see the entire article without subscribing. (I'm guessing it's the referrer header that makes the difference.) Well worth the effort.
- mixmax 17y ago
  Here's a link: http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=Silicon+Valley+Is+Not+Wall+Street+ http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&...
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
jakarta 17y ago
I love this bit: "The first practitioners, including Eugene Kleiner and me, had familiarity with Wall Street operators and we set up our partnerships to avoid specifically problematic practices. These parameters included: no leverage; audited statements; never investing personal capital where the partnership could or should do so (that is, no "cherry picking" at the investors expense); no profit participation until the investor's entire capital had been repaid; limited partnership life and no investments of new capital in older deals. These early ideas have become nearly universal over the decades. And in my opinion, they have kept our industry healthy, profitable and largely scandal-free. It is time the venture industry is rewarded for the work that we do and how we go about doing it. We are not asking for bailout money or additional tax breaks. We simply want those in the Beltway to leave us alone and let us do our jobs—which means creating more jobs for our country."
dantheman 17y ago
It is time the venture industry is rewarded for the work that we do and how we go about doing it. We are not asking for bailout money or additional tax breaks. We simply want those in the Beltway to leave us alone and let us do our jobs, which means creating more jobs for our country.
- pyre 17y ago
  You might want to indicate that that's a quote from the article. Unless I'm totally out of line and you're really Tom Perkins, then I apologize.
  - dantheman 17y ago
    Good call sorry about that, it appears I can no longer edit my post. I meant to put quotes around it.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  the regulatory hurdles faced both by small business owners and those who invest in small businesses is the clearest sign that despite any huffing and puffing to the contrary, the government really doesn't care all that much about job creation.
pw0ncakes 17y ago
One problem: there's a lot of crossover between investment banking and venture capital. Although the fact is appalling, it's easier to get a VC job with an IB gig and an MBA than with 4-10 years of experience in technology. So you have a lot of the same people. VC would be a lot better-run, however, if it recruited technology people instead of ex-bankers.
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  The industry has been around for a very long time, and it still has a pretty strong B-school flavor. Maybe MBAs are way better at getting capital, even if they make worse investments. That might be a way to restate the problem, and it points to the same solution many startups arrive at: have a suit or two on staff, if only to communicate with the other suits who have so much money.
  - pw0ncakes 17y ago
    The industry has been around for a very long time, and it still has a pretty strong B-school flavor. You'd think that this would be a candidate for change, given that the industry is losing money. However, I don't expect ever to see it happen. Even though MBA culture is anachronistic and less-than-useless, it persists because it convinces a set of people who can't actually do anything that they deserve to be the High Priests of the economy.
    - byrneseyeview 17y ago
      That's true. The thing is, if I see why an industry should change, but notice it hasn't changed, there are only two conclusions I can reach. Either: a) My analysis is flawed, or b) I've discovered an opportunity to profit. I tend to assume a), if only because b) takes more work.
      - pw0ncakes 17y ago
        Not necessarily on B. I'm more talented than 99% of people in finance, including the major decision makers. However, that doesn't give me an "opportunity to profit". We're talking about VC here, which requires a huge cash base before it converges. I don't have one.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
pg 17y ago
Note to self: If you ever publish something in the WSJ, make sure you get all the important stuff into first 2.5 paragraphs, before the paywall comes down and everyone stops reading.

31 points by jakarta 17y ago

If you search for the title of this article in Google News and click on the link there you can see the entire article without subscribing. (I'm guessing it's the referrer header that makes the difference.) Well worth the effort.

mixmax 17y ago
Here's a link: http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=Silicon+Valley+Is+Not+Wall+Street+ http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&...
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]

jakarta 17y ago

I love this bit: "The first practitioners, including Eugene Kleiner and me, had familiarity with Wall Street operators and we set up our partnerships to avoid specifically problematic practices. These parameters included: no leverage; audited statements; never investing personal capital where the partnership could or should do so (that is, no "cherry picking" at the investors expense); no profit participation until the investor's entire capital had been repaid; limited partnership life and no investments of new capital in older deals. These early ideas have become nearly universal over the decades. And in my opinion, they have kept our industry healthy, profitable and largely scandal-free. It is time the venture industry is rewarded for the work that we do and how we go about doing it. We are not asking for bailout money or additional tax breaks. We simply want those in the Beltway to leave us alone and let us do our jobs—which means creating more jobs for our country."

dantheman 17y ago

It is time the venture industry is rewarded for the work that we do and how we go about doing it. We are not asking for bailout money or additional tax breaks. We simply want those in the Beltway to leave us alone and let us do our jobs, which means creating more jobs for our country.

pyre 17y ago
You might want to indicate that that's a quote from the article. Unless I'm totally out of line and you're really Tom Perkins, then I apologize.
- dantheman 17y ago
  Good call sorry about that, it appears I can no longer edit my post. I meant to put quotes around it.
nazgulnarsil 17y ago
the regulatory hurdles faced both by small business owners and those who invest in small businesses is the clearest sign that despite any huffing and puffing to the contrary, the government really doesn't care all that much about job creation.

pw0ncakes 17y ago

One problem: there's a lot of crossover between investment banking and venture capital. Although the fact is appalling, it's easier to get a VC job with an IB gig and an MBA than with 4-10 years of experience in technology. So you have a lot of the same people. VC would be a lot better-run, however, if it recruited technology people instead of ex-bankers.

byrneseyeview 17y ago
The industry has been around for a very long time, and it still has a pretty strong B-school flavor. Maybe MBAs are way better at getting capital, even if they make worse investments. That might be a way to restate the problem, and it points to the same solution many startups arrive at: have a suit or two on staff, if only to communicate with the other suits who have so much money.
- pw0ncakes 17y ago
  The industry has been around for a very long time, and it still has a pretty strong B-school flavor. You'd think that this would be a candidate for change, given that the industry is losing money. However, I don't expect ever to see it happen. Even though MBA culture is anachronistic and less-than-useless, it persists because it convinces a set of people who can't actually do anything that they deserve to be the High Priests of the economy.
  - byrneseyeview 17y ago
    That's true. The thing is, if I see why an industry should change, but notice it hasn't changed, there are only two conclusions I can reach. Either: a) My analysis is flawed, or b) I've discovered an opportunity to profit. I tend to assume a), if only because b) takes more work.
    - pw0ncakes 17y ago
      Not necessarily on B. I'm more talented than 99% of people in finance, including the major decision makers. However, that doesn't give me an "opportunity to profit". We're talking about VC here, which requires a huge cash base before it converges. I don't have one.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

pg 17y ago

Note to self: If you ever publish something in the WSJ, make sure you get all the important stuff into first 2.5 paragraphs, before the paywall comes down and everyone stops reading.