> They invest in things the society didn't even know it needed. That's an overly generous way to put it. In reality, VCs exist to fund companies that will make

> They invest in things the society didn't even know it needed. That's an overly generous way to put it. In reality, VCs exist to fund companies that will make the VCs a lot of money. So either the companies they invest in have to (1) become profitable, or (2) the share price must increase drastically such that the VC's can sell their shares at a profit. The reason VCs don't build hotels for the homeless isn't because "society already knows it needs this", it's because homeless people don't have any money so there's no profit in serving them.