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How was YCombinator ever not a "lottery factory"? Isn't that the goal of their style of venture capitalism - cast a wide net and profit massively off the few go
by ivraatiems 5y ago
How was YCombinator ever not a "lottery factory"? Isn't that the goal of their style of venture capitalism - cast a wide net and profit massively off the few good fat fish that come up?
- amelius 5y ago... at the expense of hard working founders who put all their eggs in their one basket. "Work harder, and you will (read: might if you are very lucky) become a billionaire." This is very similar to every platform (like App Store) trying to win over workers by making them believe they can become rich on their platform, which of course is a statistical lie.
- ivraatiems 5y agoBut how's that different from any other venture capitalist? The idea, if I understand it, is that if you work out everyone will be so rich it won't matter what percentage they own, you'll still be incredibly rich. If it doesn't work, as it usually doesn't, well, you can't give away 10% of 0, so who cares? It's not just VCs playing the lottery, it's the founders also. I'm not saying I support it or think it's a good or healthy thing, but... isn't this the bargain people are willingly making?
- amelius 5y agoThe problem is that the investors/platforms make it seem that the odds of winning are more favorable. HN is an example of this: we mostly hear the success stories.