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Would you mind expanding upon this, detailing the exploitation: "It was only after Steve Jobs exploited their preferential attachment & tendency of VC to succu

by dpflan 2y ago

Would you mind expanding upon this, detailing the exploitation: "It was only after Steve Jobs exploited their preferential attachment & tendency of VC to succumb to herding effects that he was given investment."

max_ 2y ago
There is a very good documentary called Something Ventured[1]. It's really good. I think everyone into Startups must watch this. It's not second hand narration but the real VCs them selves telling the stories so I find it very reliable. So in the documentary there is a section about VCs meeting Steve Jobs & Wozniak for the first time. They passed on the investment saying that they were "not impressive". One of the VCs (that refused to invest) was begged to show up at some computer conference to see how people were interacting with the Apple Computer. The VC saw a very huge crowd of people around the Apple booth waiting for a turn to use the Apple computer. The VC then completely changed his mind & decided to invest in Apple. When he did so, even the likes of Don Valentine now begged to enter the round. My suspicion is that the crowd was artificial, Steve Jobs knew that if he could prove (or construct) some kind of hype around his Apple computer at the conference. It would conjure fear of missing out in the VCs or something akin to traction. Note that everything else remained the same the product, the founders etc. He just added an ounce of hype. [1]: https://youtu.be/7eV2L7CHCSQ?feature=shared https://youtu.be/7eV2L7CHCSQ?feature=shared
- nextworddev 2y ago
  The longer you work in tech industry, you will viscerally "feel" just how rare Steve Jobs was as a talent.
  - blueblisters 2y ago
    he had an amazing feel for mass consumer psyche ("taste") and along with a good dose of charisma
- dpflan 2y ago
  FOMO is the number 1 VC trait to exploit.
- conductr 2y ago
  Even if you think a founder is not impressive, if you see an impressive product you are more likely to take the bet. It’s the same old “sales cures all” sentiment where many organizational dysfunctions can be tolerated if the company’s products are in demand
- red-iron-pine 2y ago
  so he was good at marketing
ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
There's a famous old photo of the first Microsofties[0], and is often captioned by "Would You Invest?" [0] https://i.insider.com/53ad82026bb3f7237a3347bf?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp https://i.insider.com/53ad82026bb3f7237a3347bf?width=800&for...
- majani 2y ago
  They were ex-Ivy league and friends from college. They fit into the current investor meta perfectly

by dpflan 2y ago

max_ 2y ago

There is a very good documentary called Something Ventured[1]. It's really good. I think everyone into Startups must watch this. It's not second hand narration but the real VCs them selves telling the stories so I find it very reliable. So in the documentary there is a section about VCs meeting Steve Jobs & Wozniak for the first time. They passed on the investment saying that they were "not impressive". One of the VCs (that refused to invest) was begged to show up at some computer conference to see how people were interacting with the Apple Computer. The VC saw a very huge crowd of people around the Apple booth waiting for a turn to use the Apple computer. The VC then completely changed his mind & decided to invest in Apple. When he did so, even the likes of Don Valentine now begged to enter the round. My suspicion is that the crowd was artificial, Steve Jobs knew that if he could prove (or construct) some kind of hype around his Apple computer at the conference. It would conjure fear of missing out in the VCs or something akin to traction. Note that everything else remained the same the product, the founders etc. He just added an ounce of hype. [1]: https://youtu.be/7eV2L7CHCSQ?feature=shared https://youtu.be/7eV2L7CHCSQ?feature=shared

nextworddev 2y ago
The longer you work in tech industry, you will viscerally "feel" just how rare Steve Jobs was as a talent.
- blueblisters 2y ago
  he had an amazing feel for mass consumer psyche ("taste") and along with a good dose of charisma
dpflan 2y ago
FOMO is the number 1 VC trait to exploit.
conductr 2y ago
Even if you think a founder is not impressive, if you see an impressive product you are more likely to take the bet. It’s the same old “sales cures all” sentiment where many organizational dysfunctions can be tolerated if the company’s products are in demand
red-iron-pine 2y ago
so he was good at marketing

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago

There's a famous old photo of the first Microsofties[0], and is often captioned by "Would You Invest?" [0] https://i.insider.com/53ad82026bb3f7237a3347bf?width=800&format=jpeg&auto=webp https://i.insider.com/53ad82026bb3f7237a3347bf?width=800&for...

majani 2y ago
They were ex-Ivy league and friends from college. They fit into the current investor meta perfectly