Some on this thread are saying it's very common for VC trustees to be closely involved in the businesses they fund. But normal VCs must sink or swim as private

Some on this thread are saying it's very common for VC trustees to be closely involved in the businesses they fund. But normal VCs must sink or swim as private businesses. In-Q-Tel is a non-profit, kept afloat by the taxpayers. This setup can easly be a nice channel for powerful people to funnel public money their own way. For one thing, if In-Q-Tel has close links with the CIA, they can steer contracts towards favoured companies. Even without that, trustees can funnel VC money into businesses and then funnel it out to their own selves. When the business fails, they shrug. Failures happen. That couldh appen in the private sector too. But even if In-Q-Tel keeps losing money in total, the trustees (who just made nice personal profits) can also shrug and say "this was never a for-profit thing anyway".