4 ms·

I think the word "hard" is a bit overloaded in this thread. Yes, I'm sure VCs "work hard" in the sense of putting in lots of hours or doing demanding work, but

I think the word "hard" is a bit overloaded in this thread. Yes, I'm sure VCs "work hard" in the sense of putting in lots of hours or doing demanding work, but really, who cares about that. Lots of people, up and down the socio-economic spectrum work hard in this sense. It's not a helpful distinction. And I'm not impressed by hard work in this sense. I have often wondered what it is, exactly, that VCs and executives and SVPs and bankers do that makes their services so valuable and so venerated. As I already mentioned, it's obviously not just because they are physically "working so hard." To me it's equally obvious that it's not because they are incredibly smart or wise. I assert with great confidence that (as a general rule) truly smart people are not wasting their time with work that is in any way associated with the movements of small green pieces of paper. I believe that what is meant by "working hard" in the context of this set is a certain willingness to make deals or sales at all costs. By wisdom is meant intuition and connections or a rolodex (ie. the ability to get certain people on the phone). But I know this for sure: something isn't hard if there aren't any real consequences for failing. And in the United States, if you are lucky enough to clear certain bars, you are exempt from failure. "Failure" and "hard" in this post means not closing a certain deal, but it doesn't mean anything like financial ruin. It means a minor roadbump, perhaps some professional embarrassment, and then onto the next money thing. This is why I think these people are so utterly unworthy of the fawning adulation paid to them by SV folks desperately wanting to be rich, suckling at the teat, fantasizing about someday standing on that shiny stage with the little yellow ball mic, arms outstretched, telling everyone about their fantastic vision in broken sentences.

bhupy 6y ago
> truly smart people are not wasting their time with work that is in any way associated with the movements of small green pieces of paper. What you call "movement of small green pieces of paper", others might call "resource allocation", which is a pivotal function in civilization-building.
- jordanpg 6y ago
  I don't disagree, but I maintain that it isn't something that most of the best and brightest spend a lot of time thinking about. The fact that the acquisition of lots of money is an end in and of itself pursued by a class of skilled "elite" white collar workers (like VCs) is basically a side effect of the "resource allocation" you mention run amok coupled with faulty wiring in our monkey brains.
  - bhupy 6y ago
    Acquisition of lots of money is not the same as moving money around, which was your original point. Acquisition of lots of money is also a proxy for impact — if you provide just $3 of value to every American, ONE TIME, congrats, you're a billionaire. Hell, there are 7.8 billion people in the world. If you can get 1% of them to pay you a penny once a year, you're making $780k/year. Most smart people spend a lot of time thinking about building empires. Making money is just a really nice side effect of building the empires. In this world, there are 2 endeavors that make a LOT of money: empire building and macro resource allocation. The majority of the best and brightest will spend a lot of time thinking about those two endeavors no matter what the underlying system is. In a parallel universe where all resource allocation and production is driven by the government — your elite class will simply be in the officer ranks of those bureaucracies. It's no different from the military where the elite West Point graduates enjoy greater status than the enlisted rank-and-file.
- mempko 6y ago
  And if you haven't noticed, the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction happening now signals a complete miss allocation of resources. Will we fall as fast as we rose?
  - bhupy 6y ago
    You could certainly argue that there is a mis-allocation of resources towards the kinds of energy we need to be using. I don't think you can look to the climate crises, and then conclude that there is a compete mis-allocation of resources, across ALL industries. That's plainly absurd. We don't have a mis-allocation of resources in the production of food, clothing, appliances, electronics. Insofar as we have a mis-allocation of resources towards energy sources, it's because externalities are not included in the price of the thing. There is a pretty straightforward way to fix this that does not involve totally shifting the way we allocate all of our other resources...
dustingetz 6y ago
The phrase "work hard" does not appear in TFA or parent comment Article is saying that VC is a challenging business
- BatFastard 6y ago
  What is NOT a challenging business? If you can name 3 or 4 easy ones I will change professions! I hear being a dermatologist is easy if you can get thru med school, and get the specialty. But for that you only need to spend 15 years working really hard!

bhupy 6y ago

> truly smart people are not wasting their time with work that is in any way associated with the movements of small green pieces of paper. What you call "movement of small green pieces of paper", others might call "resource allocation", which is a pivotal function in civilization-building.

jordanpg 6y ago
I don't disagree, but I maintain that it isn't something that most of the best and brightest spend a lot of time thinking about. The fact that the acquisition of lots of money is an end in and of itself pursued by a class of skilled "elite" white collar workers (like VCs) is basically a side effect of the "resource allocation" you mention run amok coupled with faulty wiring in our monkey brains.
- bhupy 6y ago
  Acquisition of lots of money is not the same as moving money around, which was your original point. Acquisition of lots of money is also a proxy for impact — if you provide just $3 of value to every American, ONE TIME, congrats, you're a billionaire. Hell, there are 7.8 billion people in the world. If you can get 1% of them to pay you a penny once a year, you're making $780k/year. Most smart people spend a lot of time thinking about building empires. Making money is just a really nice side effect of building the empires. In this world, there are 2 endeavors that make a LOT of money: empire building and macro resource allocation. The majority of the best and brightest will spend a lot of time thinking about those two endeavors no matter what the underlying system is. In a parallel universe where all resource allocation and production is driven by the government — your elite class will simply be in the officer ranks of those bureaucracies. It's no different from the military where the elite West Point graduates enjoy greater status than the enlisted rank-and-file.
mempko 6y ago
And if you haven't noticed, the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction happening now signals a complete miss allocation of resources. Will we fall as fast as we rose?
- bhupy 6y ago
  You could certainly argue that there is a mis-allocation of resources towards the kinds of energy we need to be using. I don't think you can look to the climate crises, and then conclude that there is a compete mis-allocation of resources, across ALL industries. That's plainly absurd. We don't have a mis-allocation of resources in the production of food, clothing, appliances, electronics. Insofar as we have a mis-allocation of resources towards energy sources, it's because externalities are not included in the price of the thing. There is a pretty straightforward way to fix this that does not involve totally shifting the way we allocate all of our other resources...

dustingetz 6y ago

The phrase "work hard" does not appear in TFA or parent comment Article is saying that VC is a challenging business

BatFastard 6y ago
What is NOT a challenging business? If you can name 3 or 4 easy ones I will change professions! I hear being a dermatologist is easy if you can get thru med school, and get the specialty. But for that you only need to spend 15 years working really hard!