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The recent book VC: An American History by Tom Nicholas argues that the whaling industry in the early 19th century shared many characteristics with modern VC ma
by gxqoz 7y ago
The recent book VC: An American History by Tom Nicholas argues that the whaling industry in the early 19th century shared many characteristics with modern VC markets. The profits of whaling vessels had distributions similar to startups (most were not profitable, a few profitable, a very few delivered excess returns). Whaling captains were incentivized similar to startup founders (returns heavily tied to how much whale oil they harvested rather than a fixed salary). Many of the families that invested in whaling ventures branched out into other industries like textiles.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42449471-vc https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42449471-vc
- PakG1 7y agoHah, you remind me of the scene at the beginning of The Perfect Storm where the owner of the boat explains to Mark Wahlberg's character why he gets paid so little while George Clooney's character gets paid so much. Compare sailors working the ship to the grunts working the startup.
- gxqoz 7y agoEveryone on board the ship was actually paid a share of the profits. But yes, there were disproportionate rewards to those at the top, just like in a modern startup.