In short, yes. You need capital willing to fund a given idea for it to happen. That doesn't have to come from a bank or a VC, but it can. So the capital alloc

In short, yes. You need capital willing to fund a given idea for it to happen. That doesn't have to come from a bank or a VC, but it can. So the capital allocators who allocate to successful projects are a necessary component of the equation. They may not "deserve" "most" of the credit, but you still need them around. So to loop back to your point -- if people like Sam have convictions about what to fund / how to choose, they can be a useful (even integral) part of BUILDING things. Just because he's not an operator in the equation, doesn't mean that his exhortation is hypocritical. IMO edit typos