> In what ways could capital be made less necessary? By reducing the cost of anything and everything that startups spend money on. (And for the largest item i

> In what ways could capital be made less necessary? By reducing the cost of anything and everything that startups spend money on. (And for the largest item in many budgets, namely employee costs... in the presence of an adequate social safety net, cash-strapped startups could pay employees in equity rather than cash, and they could stick around for as long as they thought it might be worth something in the end). Somewhat separately, what struck me from the article is that Zhu's controversial moves generally didn't involve bad business decisions, but rather failing to impress investors at a moment when the company needed the money. It would be better if that need for money were reduced, and we could all see how this type of experimental style turns out.