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Vinay Gupta (Ethereum, Hexayurt) is starting a new VC that cares for founders

15 points by Rdbartlett 10y ago

leashless 10y ago
Hi, Vinay here. If anybody would like to talk about the proposal, I'll be around to answer questions. The core of the idea is pretty simple, there's a very brief summary on the home page if you're in a hurry. I know the video is long, it's really designed to lay out the case with all the background analysis and research so that people can make their own assessment of the hypothesis. What do you think? Do let me know.
spitfire 10y ago
So there's a lot of very-smart in the video, but it's a bit of a ramble with no actual clear description of the idea. Maybe you could add in a 30 second explainer at the start of the video. First tell them what you're going to tell them. Next tell them. Then tell them what you just told them.
- leashless 10y ago
  Thanks! Yeah, I erred on the side of completeness. I'm hoping that through discussion and dialogue we can figure out the essential version of the argument and get it down to ten minutes or even five. Right now it's a bit of an interconnected mass. Clarity will take conversation! But I'm glad you liked it. This is the first written feedback I have had, and I'm glad it was positive.
  - spitfire 10y ago
    Yeah. So I watched through until the end. I feel like you should definitely study areas outside the well trodden nerd-bait paths. Then judiciously steal those ideas (works for PG, repackaging an explanation of portfolio investing). Unfortunately no, the "entrapreneur" often isn't important in an irreplaceable way. The culture and society (group of entrapreneurs) however are important. So if you shift from "The entrepreneur is the star" to "The culture/bubbling ecosystem is the star, we'll treat entrepreneurs well so we get as many shots as we can." That might work.
    - leashless 10y ago
      Scenius, as Brian Eno calls it.
      - spitfire 10y ago
        Yes! That'd be appropriate. However, I still think vulture capitalists will somehow find a way to turn it into an old boys club (made from young boys' dreams) again. Human nature being what it is, we love a hero myth. I do have to ask why do you need to create "startups"? Why can't you (help) create good SME's? Have you done your historical research? Who has traditionally created the big, world changing inventions? Startups, SME's, large institutions, or governments? I ask, because you and many others mention older individuals becoming entrepreneurial, but not needing so much help. For the best odds might it make sense to get the younger generations on firm ground with solid SME's to gain experience. Then swing for the fences later?
  - Rdbartlett 10y ago
    The argument that stayed with me after an hour was: 1. humanity can only reach its potential if we have a lot of unicorns (innovations that get out in front of cultural changes) 2. VCs are set up fairly well to fund unicorns, but they'd have a bit more success if they paid more attention to the intersection of complex technologies 3. unicorn farming is exceptionally harmful to entrepreneurs: if we know the success rate is so tiny, we should take better care of everyone else I picked #3 for the title of this post because that was the most distinctive (and personally relevant to me as a founder).

15 points by Rdbartlett 10y ago

Hi, Vinay here. If anybody would like to talk about the proposal, I'll be around to answer questions. The core of the idea is pretty simple, there's a very brief summary on the home page if you're in a hurry. I know the video is long, it's really designed to lay out the case with all the background analysis and research so that people can make their own assessment of the hypothesis. What do you think? Do let me know.

spitfire 10y ago

So there's a lot of very-smart in the video, but it's a bit of a ramble with no actual clear description of the idea. Maybe you could add in a 30 second explainer at the start of the video. First tell them what you're going to tell them. Next tell them. Then tell them what you just told them.

leashless 10y ago
Thanks! Yeah, I erred on the side of completeness. I'm hoping that through discussion and dialogue we can figure out the essential version of the argument and get it down to ten minutes or even five. Right now it's a bit of an interconnected mass. Clarity will take conversation! But I'm glad you liked it. This is the first written feedback I have had, and I'm glad it was positive.
- spitfire 10y ago
  Yeah. So I watched through until the end. I feel like you should definitely study areas outside the well trodden nerd-bait paths. Then judiciously steal those ideas (works for PG, repackaging an explanation of portfolio investing). Unfortunately no, the "entrapreneur" often isn't important in an irreplaceable way. The culture and society (group of entrapreneurs) however are important. So if you shift from "The entrepreneur is the star" to "The culture/bubbling ecosystem is the star, we'll treat entrepreneurs well so we get as many shots as we can." That might work.
  - leashless 10y ago
    Scenius, as Brian Eno calls it.
    - spitfire 10y ago
      Yes! That'd be appropriate. However, I still think vulture capitalists will somehow find a way to turn it into an old boys club (made from young boys' dreams) again. Human nature being what it is, we love a hero myth. I do have to ask why do you need to create "startups"? Why can't you (help) create good SME's? Have you done your historical research? Who has traditionally created the big, world changing inventions? Startups, SME's, large institutions, or governments? I ask, because you and many others mention older individuals becoming entrepreneurial, but not needing so much help. For the best odds might it make sense to get the younger generations on firm ground with solid SME's to gain experience. Then swing for the fences later?
- Rdbartlett 10y ago
  The argument that stayed with me after an hour was: 1. humanity can only reach its potential if we have a lot of unicorns (innovations that get out in front of cultural changes) 2. VCs are set up fairly well to fund unicorns, but they'd have a bit more success if they paid more attention to the intersection of complex technologies 3. unicorn farming is exceptionally harmful to entrepreneurs: if we know the success rate is so tiny, we should take better care of everyone else I picked #3 for the title of this post because that was the most distinctive (and personally relevant to me as a founder).