3 ms·

At this point 'tech' is more an aesthetic than anything else. Just keep repeating the word 'disruptive' and light a pile of VC money on fire and you're 'tech.'

At this point 'tech' is more an aesthetic than anything else. Just keep repeating the word 'disruptive' and light a pile of VC money on fire and you're 'tech.' Bonus points if that pile is at least a billion dollars and from some big name foreign entity looking to launder ill-gotten wealth. Whether or not you actually do anything productive or useful is besides the point.

FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
> launder ill-gotten wealth Explain how this works? The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund has a bunch of oil money. It's known to be an oppressive regime. It buys a bunch of Uber stock with that money, and its name is now in the cap table. Everyone saw every transaction. Its name is still clearly there. It also doesn't need to turn, say, drug money into carwash profits, to avoid suspicion from tax agencies, because it is the tax agency; it's sovereign. And even if I'm not the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, but a private individual, and I want to launder money, I don't see how buying Uber shares helps me do that, because I will still need to have gotten the cash from somewhere, and buying shares creates no pretext for where that cash might have come from. Unless there's a wash trade thing going on? Where legitimate actor A buys shares to keep the price up, while illegitimate secret ally B sells shares, in order to transfer wealth from one to the other? I don't think that's what you're saying though. So what, really, do you mean? Honestly I'm assuming this is just one of those rhetorical things that we say but haven't really thought about. But if there's meat there, I'd like to know.
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  Launder might not be right. Ill-gotten wealth fits though. Gulf oil companies exploit the workers to funnel money to the top. No one is being paid fairly.
fullshark 4y ago
> At this point The question is...have the good times ended? Or is there just too much money out there desperately searching for ridiculous sized returns and the money train will get back up and running shortly. Anything other than spending that money on gov't infrastructure or social services.

FooBarBizBazz 4y ago

> launder ill-gotten wealth Explain how this works? The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund has a bunch of oil money. It's known to be an oppressive regime. It buys a bunch of Uber stock with that money, and its name is now in the cap table. Everyone saw every transaction. Its name is still clearly there. It also doesn't need to turn, say, drug money into carwash profits, to avoid suspicion from tax agencies, because it is the tax agency; it's sovereign. And even if I'm not the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, but a private individual, and I want to launder money, I don't see how buying Uber shares helps me do that, because I will still need to have gotten the cash from somewhere, and buying shares creates no pretext for where that cash might have come from. Unless there's a wash trade thing going on? Where legitimate actor A buys shares to keep the price up, while illegitimate secret ally B sells shares, in order to transfer wealth from one to the other? I don't think that's what you're saying though. So what, really, do you mean? Honestly I'm assuming this is just one of those rhetorical things that we say but haven't really thought about. But if there's meat there, I'd like to know.

skinnymuch 4y ago
Launder might not be right. Ill-gotten wealth fits though. Gulf oil companies exploit the workers to funnel money to the top. No one is being paid fairly.

fullshark 4y ago

> At this point The question is...have the good times ended? Or is there just too much money out there desperately searching for ridiculous sized returns and the money train will get back up and running shortly. Anything other than spending that money on gov't infrastructure or social services.