4 ms·

That's at least one strong reason - VCs look at the person as much as the business. Crypto was filled with sleazy car-salesman "investor" types at the time Ala

That's at least one strong reason - VCs look at the person as much as the business. Crypto was filled with sleazy car-salesman "investor" types at the time Alameda Research was looking for funding. So when in came someone with a Jane Street background and not a single flashy Ferrari in their driveway, the dam broke on VCs finally being able to pour money into the crypto space on a decent looking founder.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
SauciestGNU 4y ago
If that's how unsophisticated these VC operations are then I think we'll see a lot of them lose their shirts in the coming macroeconomic environment. Which will consequently make future funding rounds all the more difficult.
- boppo1 4y ago
  Unless the Fed blinks.
  - nxm 4y ago
    The closer to an election, the more likely the case
  - oarabbus_ 4y ago
    Just today the Fed governors stated inflation has not been sufficiently curtailed... https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/feds-bullard-says-rate-hikes-have-had-only-limited-effects-on-inflation-so-far.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/feds-bullard-says-rate-hikes...
    - boppo1 4y ago
      Sure, I'm just curious how we'll deal with interest payments on our debt, especially since our economy has evolved to thrive on low rates. The hikes are necessary, but I think they're going to kill a bunch of BS jobs, meanwhile we'll have to raise taxes to service the debt. Gonna be real interesting.
      - three_seagrass 4y ago
        Nation debt isn't like a personal checkbook. As long as the economy grows just as fast or faster than the debt over time, then they're okay.
        boppo1 4y ago
        Sure, but we made the economy grow by keeping debt cheap. Now debt will be expensive and all signs point to the economy not growing in such an environment.
- three_seagrass 4y ago
  VCs only need to roll a crit hit on a 1d20 to stay afloat. They're not going to lose their shirts, not as long as insanely wealthy people like to gamble.
AlanYx 4y ago
Plus both his parents are professors at Stanford Law school. I can see VCs having a natural bias towards "it would be unlikely for someone with this pedigree to operate so completely outside the law".
- TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
  Unless - hypothetically - some of them were looking for someone who would operate outside the law, but with pedigree and credibility. There was a lot of money involved. There was a huge network of shell companies to hide it. VCs, who are supposed to know what due diligence is, looked at some hilariously unprofessional books and said "We like the look of this." Is it unreasonable to wonder what was going on?
nullc 4y ago
SBF had huge sleaze vibes, so I don't know if your logic applies. > and not a single flashy Ferrari the article mentions his $30 million dollar penthouse ... It seems the only place the flashy assets didn't exist was in the press coverage put out by organizations SBF gave money to...
- buescher 4y ago
  Nice real estate and art send a very different signal than an exotic car, even if they're kind of high-life blingy.
- oarabbus_ 4y ago
  >the article mentions his $30 million dollar penthouse the $30M penthouse in the Bahamas that was purchased using investor money and customer funds... he didn't own it at the time he received funding from these big name VCs, did he?
- three_seagrass 4y ago
  SBF branding himself as an effective altruist and even purposely dressed in the silicon valley "genius" attire. His condo in the bahamas was after he hit it big and needed to be close to Washington to work on crypto regulation. There's a huge gap between that and the majority of crypto founders at the time.
bogomipz 4y ago
I am slightly baffled by this comment since my first impression of him was exactly "sleazy vibes". Not in the flashy Ferrari sense but because the look seemed to try so hard to be the opposite of flash - the nasty stretched out t-shirts, shorts and forever bed-head hair. It struck me as a contrived and something of a put on. Google "John Blutarsky Animal House." SBF appears to have patterned his look after Jon Belushi's character in that movie. I think you have to make an effort to look like that so consistently, especially when there are cameras around.
- vostok 4y ago
  I can confirm that this kind of look is not at all atypical in the quantitative prop trading world and it's not contrived.
  - bogomipz 4y ago
    Well if it's so common as to be a kind of uniform isn't that the very definition of contrived? How else would you explain the phenomenon then, that slobs just naturally gravitate towards prop trading?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

SauciestGNU 4y ago

If that's how unsophisticated these VC operations are then I think we'll see a lot of them lose their shirts in the coming macroeconomic environment. Which will consequently make future funding rounds all the more difficult.

boppo1 4y ago
Unless the Fed blinks.
- nxm 4y ago
  The closer to an election, the more likely the case
- oarabbus_ 4y ago
  Just today the Fed governors stated inflation has not been sufficiently curtailed... https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/feds-bullard-says-rate-hikes-have-had-only-limited-effects-on-inflation-so-far.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/feds-bullard-says-rate-hikes...
  - boppo1 4y ago
    Sure, I'm just curious how we'll deal with interest payments on our debt, especially since our economy has evolved to thrive on low rates. The hikes are necessary, but I think they're going to kill a bunch of BS jobs, meanwhile we'll have to raise taxes to service the debt. Gonna be real interesting.
    - three_seagrass 4y ago
      Nation debt isn't like a personal checkbook. As long as the economy grows just as fast or faster than the debt over time, then they're okay.
      - boppo1 4y ago
        Sure, but we made the economy grow by keeping debt cheap. Now debt will be expensive and all signs point to the economy not growing in such an environment.
three_seagrass 4y ago
VCs only need to roll a crit hit on a 1d20 to stay afloat. They're not going to lose their shirts, not as long as insanely wealthy people like to gamble.

AlanYx 4y ago

Plus both his parents are professors at Stanford Law school. I can see VCs having a natural bias towards "it would be unlikely for someone with this pedigree to operate so completely outside the law".

TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
Unless - hypothetically - some of them were looking for someone who would operate outside the law, but with pedigree and credibility. There was a lot of money involved. There was a huge network of shell companies to hide it. VCs, who are supposed to know what due diligence is, looked at some hilariously unprofessional books and said "We like the look of this." Is it unreasonable to wonder what was going on?

nullc 4y ago

SBF had huge sleaze vibes, so I don't know if your logic applies. > and not a single flashy Ferrari the article mentions his $30 million dollar penthouse ... It seems the only place the flashy assets didn't exist was in the press coverage put out by organizations SBF gave money to...

buescher 4y ago
Nice real estate and art send a very different signal than an exotic car, even if they're kind of high-life blingy.
oarabbus_ 4y ago
>the article mentions his $30 million dollar penthouse the $30M penthouse in the Bahamas that was purchased using investor money and customer funds... he didn't own it at the time he received funding from these big name VCs, did he?
three_seagrass 4y ago
SBF branding himself as an effective altruist and even purposely dressed in the silicon valley "genius" attire. His condo in the bahamas was after he hit it big and needed to be close to Washington to work on crypto regulation. There's a huge gap between that and the majority of crypto founders at the time.

bogomipz 4y ago

I am slightly baffled by this comment since my first impression of him was exactly "sleazy vibes". Not in the flashy Ferrari sense but because the look seemed to try so hard to be the opposite of flash - the nasty stretched out t-shirts, shorts and forever bed-head hair. It struck me as a contrived and something of a put on. Google "John Blutarsky Animal House." SBF appears to have patterned his look after Jon Belushi's character in that movie. I think you have to make an effort to look like that so consistently, especially when there are cameras around.

vostok 4y ago
I can confirm that this kind of look is not at all atypical in the quantitative prop trading world and it's not contrived.
- bogomipz 4y ago
  Well if it's so common as to be a kind of uniform isn't that the very definition of contrived? How else would you explain the phenomenon then, that slobs just naturally gravitate towards prop trading?