(replying to myself here) When will people understand that the VC industry is a form of money management? It's an investment vehicle focused on generating a pa

(replying to myself here) When will people understand that the VC industry is a form of money management? It's an investment vehicle focused on generating a particular kind of return by investing in a particular kind of company. VCs don't invest in businesses as much as they invest in return-generating vehicles. If you can find a way to turn a grilled cheese business into a billion-dollar return-generating vehicle, then the VC will invest in it. It doesn't matter if it's an actually sustainable business or even really a business at all. Heck, you could be giving away grilled cheese and putting advertisements on the bread and if it fits the VC model then VCs will invest in it[1]. This is why "businesses" like WeWork are so divorced from business reality. Because they don't need to follow the typical path of traditional businesses, which are dependent on cash flow and customers and mostly industry or region-specific competition. Banks can loan to traditional businesses they understand. VCs invest in the businesses that don't fit those molds. This is why venture investing exists - to chase those non-traditional businesses that have the promise / potential to generate huge returns. The specifics of the business really don't matter. It follows then that if you're building a VC investment-return generating vehicle then what you're doing is not the same as building a "normal" business. You're in an ecosystem dominated by the needs for big returns. Board members don't know about or care about traditional business needs. They only care about the dynamics of investment return vehicles. This reality is not the same as the traditional business reality. [1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/melt-shop https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/melt-shop