3 ms·

Regardless of the source, the loose money floating around for a decade made a lot of terrible people wealthy enough to, in aggregate, do bad things to the econo

Regardless of the source, the loose money floating around for a decade made a lot of terrible people wealthy enough to, in aggregate, do bad things to the economy and nation. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over the money chasing safer returns. God forbid some questionable business ideas at the margin don't get funded.

spaceman_2020 4y ago
Here in India at least, it feels that the venture capital class has completely forgotten about the bottom 95% of the population. Almost all capital is chasing the lucrative top 5% with products specifically designed for them (like a credit card bill payment app - only 5% of the population even owns credit cards). Feels like a misallocation of capital if I'm honest that will just create more unequal and unhealthy societies.
- jp57 4y ago
  I guess when the wealthiest 5% has the same population as all of France, it's hard to resist.
- kwertyoowiyop 4y ago
  It’s easier to design a product whose target market is “people who spend a lot of money.”
- thr0wawayf00 4y ago
  The situation is largely the same in the US, especially around gig economy companies. They provide a service that a large percentage of the population can't afford to use (many who can't afford the service wind up as the workers), and in some cases even issue debt as a carrot to get workers in the door. Uber is a perfect example of this. Not only did they create a market that they controlled all the levers to in order extract the value, they started partnering with auto lenders to get drivers into nicer cars with the promise of earning extra through their premium service. So they effectively became the lender and the employer, which is frankly unconscionable in a modern and free society. The suicide rate of rideshare drivers is a severely under-reported crisis in the US. But to your point, the big money doesn't care about that.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  > Feels like a misallocation of capital if I'm honest that will just create more unequal and unhealthy societies. I think you have the causation backwards. Rising income/wealth inequality is what leads to capital chasing the lucrative top x%. I would say automation and technology and their resulting economies of scale inevitably lead to income/wealth inequality, and wealth redistribution is a political problem with political solutions. There is nothing a VC fund is going to be able to do about it.

spaceman_2020 4y ago

Here in India at least, it feels that the venture capital class has completely forgotten about the bottom 95% of the population. Almost all capital is chasing the lucrative top 5% with products specifically designed for them (like a credit card bill payment app - only 5% of the population even owns credit cards). Feels like a misallocation of capital if I'm honest that will just create more unequal and unhealthy societies.

jp57 4y ago
I guess when the wealthiest 5% has the same population as all of France, it's hard to resist.
kwertyoowiyop 4y ago
It’s easier to design a product whose target market is “people who spend a lot of money.”
thr0wawayf00 4y ago
The situation is largely the same in the US, especially around gig economy companies. They provide a service that a large percentage of the population can't afford to use (many who can't afford the service wind up as the workers), and in some cases even issue debt as a carrot to get workers in the door. Uber is a perfect example of this. Not only did they create a market that they controlled all the levers to in order extract the value, they started partnering with auto lenders to get drivers into nicer cars with the promise of earning extra through their premium service. So they effectively became the lender and the employer, which is frankly unconscionable in a modern and free society. The suicide rate of rideshare drivers is a severely under-reported crisis in the US. But to your point, the big money doesn't care about that.
lotsofpulp 4y ago
> Feels like a misallocation of capital if I'm honest that will just create more unequal and unhealthy societies. I think you have the causation backwards. Rising income/wealth inequality is what leads to capital chasing the lucrative top x%. I would say automation and technology and their resulting economies of scale inevitably lead to income/wealth inequality, and wealth redistribution is a political problem with political solutions. There is nothing a VC fund is going to be able to do about it.