> I doubt the mercenary motivation is as common as you suggest I did not mean to imply that most founders start companies to scam the investor base (who turns

> I doubt the mercenary motivation is as common as you suggest I did not mean to imply that most founders start companies to scam the investor base (who turns out to be sophisticated enough to deserve it even if so). It is just how the incentives in Silicon Valley lead you to operate. Basically SV model bribes you such that the #1 outcome would not even be rational, by design; i.e. you build a cash flow business, someone basically tells you that they are willing to give you best-case scenario upfront and ask you to come work for them and potentially make billions for them, so it is bascially a win-win for pretty much everyone except sometimes perhaps employees and customers. The natural outcome of the model means there will be a bunch of businesses with low probability of achieving their goal sustainably, by design. This does not require the founder to be/act evil. Nor do I think the existence of such model in the world is a bad thing overall, even if it leads to some scams/useless companies. It is very good net net, as the vast majority of the world is overly conservative in capital allocation (a la Warren Buffet) to balance it out.