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> And this is exactly the ugly place where reality collides with the way we wish things were. I worked for a guy once who could put together a story so plausibl
by iopq 10y ago
> And this is exactly the ugly place where reality collides with the way we wish things were. I worked for a guy once who could put together a story so plausible that someone close to you would invest way more than they had any reason to or should, into the venture. He would not tell a single outright lie and the "truth" would be that if all the things that needed to happen, did happen, the business would in fact be a great investment. He would have a sold your parents so hard that they are probably getting their friends to come in on the deal too. And when all the money was gone and your parents were destitute, he would have an iron clad story about how it was not his fault, how your parents knew that things could go wrong, and that risk was all part of the equation. He would be untouchable as far as a fraud prosecution goes.
This happens to VCs too. So? This is why investing into companies is risky.
- Jweb_Guru 10y agoVCs have money to blow.
- nostrademons 10y agoThere is a certain irony in that most of the money ultimately comes from pension funds, which are investing the same life savings that their owners are forbidden from directly investing in startups, only with at least 2 layers of indirection (pension -> fund of funds -> VC -> startup) and associated fees. But yeah, the total percentages at risk are much lower when the pension fund does it.
- iopq 10y agoThen don't invest money you can't lose?
- Jweb_Guru 10y agoFor a lot of people, that essentially means "don't invest at all." The problem is that if you think it's 100% a sure thing, it's not really speculation, so it doesn't matter whether you can afford to lose the money.
- iopq 10y ago> The problem is that if you think it's 100% a sure thing, it's not really speculation, so it doesn't matter whether you can afford to lose the money. Then that's your fault for thinking something is a 100% sure thing. Are you expecting the government to protect people from their own bad decisions?
- Jweb_Guru 10y agoThe government protects people from making bad decisions based on people lying to them all the time. What do you think the FDA is for? Why do you think investment is different?
- iopq 10y agoJust because the government does something, doesn't mean it should.
- Jweb_Guru 10y agoOkay. If you don't think the FDA fulfills a useful function, I'm not going to change your mind.
- iopq 10y agoIt's useful, but is it absolutely necessary? For example, a lot of people die from cancer while getting drugs from 20 years ago. Why not just let them have experimental drugs if they're going to die anyway?