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I agree with you. If you look at some of the examples they mention, like WeWork and Theranos, a lot of the issues there come from founders' questionable practic

I agree with you. If you look at some of the examples they mention, like WeWork and Theranos, a lot of the issues there come from founders' questionable practices (or straight up fraud, depending how harsh you want to be). VCs are partially responsible for funding them, but at the same time they are not the ones building the company, and usually don't have high visibility into the day-to-day operations outside of updates the founders send (and board meetings, if they have a seat).

learc83 7y ago
They create the environment that encourages and allows those actions though. If you encourage a rapid growth at all costs mindset, you can't be surprised when outright fraud results. And if the VCs that funded Theranos had done actual due diligence instead of getting so caught up in FOMO, the whole thing could have never happened.
- CalChris 7y ago
  Theranos wasn't really VC funded. There were angels (whales if you prefer) and corporate but not much VC and certainly no major funds (DFJ being an exception). https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/theranos#section-funding-rounds https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/theranos#section-fun... A16Z as a firm took pains to say that it didn't invest and that Sand Hill VCs couldn't diligence Theranos. https://a16z.com/2020/01/11/16-bio-myths-misconceptions/ https://a16z.com/2020/01/11/16-bio-myths-misconceptions/ But Marc Andreessen himself was a big Holmes fan. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/05/theranos-silicon-valley-media https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/05/theranos-silicon-val...