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HN: VC is a cancer, businesses don't need to grow forever at all costs, products can be finished, what we need is sustainable small companies Also HN: No, not

HN: VC is a cancer, businesses don't need to grow forever at all costs, products can be finished, what we need is sustainable small companies Also HN: No, not like that

cheschire 9mo ago
It’s almost as if HN were a community of voices instead of just one…
- DonHopkins 9mo ago
  Yes, we're are all individuals! Yes, we're all different! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QereR0CViMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QereR0CViMY (I'm not.)
- ryoshoe 9mo ago
  The Goomba Fallacy strikes once again
  - cheschire 9mo ago
    Thanks for sharing the name of the phenomenon! I was not aware of it before.
  - Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
    This fallacy's pretty cool and first time I Heard of it! Do you know other fallacies like this which are less known but as interesting (that you or others might know of) probably?
dotBen 9mo ago
If your comment is referring to the bending spoons business model, it's worth pointing out they are not VC, they are private equity. If your comment is referring to the software company's exiting to provide a return to shareholders, that happens all the time whether it's venture-backed or privately owned. The owners of privately held bootstrapped companies still want an exit one day too. As an open source software engineer who is now a venture capital investor, respectfully, I think your beef is with capitalism, not with the institutional investors.
- bicepjai 9mo ago
  Not in the startup world beyond what I pick up on HN, but this distinction was helpful. My mental model going forward: - If a company is still validating the business model and optimizing for rapid growth, it’s typically a Venture Capitalist (VC) fit. - If a company is already established and the play is to improve operations, scale, or restructure (often involving a change of control), it’s typically a Private Equity (PE) fit.
  - _DeadFred_ 9mo ago
    Reminder that restructure often means a company working just fine, but whose assets outstrip what PE can buy it for, so they strip it to the bones. Or they leverage it with debt against assets then pay that money to themselves for consulting, account/hr services that they force the company to outsource to other PE companies. Nothing is 'created' through this process, no value created/added, nor it is healthy capitalism as the company could have continued fine without this added leveraged debt that was purely used to profit PE.
  - lotsofpulp 8mo ago
    Publicly listed companies buying businesses would be a third “fit”.
ecshafer 9mo ago
The Bending Spoons business model is right out of the private equity playbook. Buy a business with good revenue, cut cost to turn this into a consistent revenue stream, generate annual returns. This is not like making a small 20 person self funded company.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
bcrosby95 9mo ago
Imagine a world where you can't complain if something is directionally correct in what you want done. Me: can you take out the trash? My kid: dumps trash on the front lawn. Me: people are speeding a lot, can we do something about it? Cops: shoots anyone speeding in the face. But I guess I can't say anything about it, because they're just doing what I want!
Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
Alright, so is vimeo finished product then? Why not come out and say this? Also another thing but other comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46707699#46709164 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46707699#46709164 points out how Vimeo wants to replace SV engineers with Italian engineers to save money. They are a first and foremost private equity company, Don't forget. There's no loyalty to any group.
- epolanski 9mo ago
  They don't replace engineers with engineers, they just put enough staff in place to leave the machine working. And yes, they in-house the engineering part, but the fact they are Italian is just because Bending Spoons is Italian and their offices are in Milan. Bending Spoons pays its own engineers very well, an entry level junior position starts at 75k+ euros, which in Italy is a senior+ engineer salary.
kelnos 9mo ago
It shouldn't be surprising that different people on a discussion site have different opinions about the same thing.
- WarmWash 9mo ago
  Comments like the above one refer to community vibes, the types of comments that will get you lots of praise/upvotes. So while individuals have different beliefs, the "average expected top comment" for communities like HN is usually pretty predictable, and hence the cognitive dissonance of the community on the whole can be called out.
_DeadFred_ 9mo ago
There are now more private equity funds in the USA than McDonalds. The maximum wealth extraction of every single thing in people's lives is not viable for a continuing healthy society. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/private-equity-consolidation-fund-manager-kkr-carlyle-eqt-cvc-secondaries.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/private-equity-consolidation...
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  An important clarification if you're not familiar with the industry: A PE firm will often have multiple funds. There are not more PE firms than McDonalds in the USA.

HN: VC is a cancer, businesses don't need to grow forever at all costs, products can be finished, what we need is sustainable small companies Also HN: No, not like that

cheschire 9mo ago

It’s almost as if HN were a community of voices instead of just one…

DonHopkins 9mo ago
Yes, we're are all individuals! Yes, we're all different! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QereR0CViMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QereR0CViMY (I'm not.)
ryoshoe 9mo ago
The Goomba Fallacy strikes once again
- cheschire 9mo ago
  Thanks for sharing the name of the phenomenon! I was not aware of it before.
- Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
  This fallacy's pretty cool and first time I Heard of it! Do you know other fallacies like this which are less known but as interesting (that you or others might know of) probably?

dotBen 9mo ago

If your comment is referring to the bending spoons business model, it's worth pointing out they are not VC, they are private equity. If your comment is referring to the software company's exiting to provide a return to shareholders, that happens all the time whether it's venture-backed or privately owned. The owners of privately held bootstrapped companies still want an exit one day too. As an open source software engineer who is now a venture capital investor, respectfully, I think your beef is with capitalism, not with the institutional investors.

bicepjai 9mo ago
Not in the startup world beyond what I pick up on HN, but this distinction was helpful. My mental model going forward: - If a company is still validating the business model and optimizing for rapid growth, it’s typically a Venture Capitalist (VC) fit. - If a company is already established and the play is to improve operations, scale, or restructure (often involving a change of control), it’s typically a Private Equity (PE) fit.
- _DeadFred_ 9mo ago
  Reminder that restructure often means a company working just fine, but whose assets outstrip what PE can buy it for, so they strip it to the bones. Or they leverage it with debt against assets then pay that money to themselves for consulting, account/hr services that they force the company to outsource to other PE companies. Nothing is 'created' through this process, no value created/added, nor it is healthy capitalism as the company could have continued fine without this added leveraged debt that was purely used to profit PE.
- lotsofpulp 8mo ago
  Publicly listed companies buying businesses would be a third “fit”.

ecshafer 9mo ago

The Bending Spoons business model is right out of the private equity playbook. Buy a business with good revenue, cut cost to turn this into a consistent revenue stream, generate annual returns. This is not like making a small 20 person self funded company.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

bcrosby95 9mo ago

Imagine a world where you can't complain if something is directionally correct in what you want done. Me: can you take out the trash? My kid: dumps trash on the front lawn. Me: people are speeding a lot, can we do something about it? Cops: shoots anyone speeding in the face. But I guess I can't say anything about it, because they're just doing what I want!

Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago

Alright, so is vimeo finished product then? Why not come out and say this? Also another thing but other comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46707699#46709164 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46707699#46709164 points out how Vimeo wants to replace SV engineers with Italian engineers to save money. They are a first and foremost private equity company, Don't forget. There's no loyalty to any group.

epolanski 9mo ago
They don't replace engineers with engineers, they just put enough staff in place to leave the machine working. And yes, they in-house the engineering part, but the fact they are Italian is just because Bending Spoons is Italian and their offices are in Milan. Bending Spoons pays its own engineers very well, an entry level junior position starts at 75k+ euros, which in Italy is a senior+ engineer salary.

kelnos 9mo ago

It shouldn't be surprising that different people on a discussion site have different opinions about the same thing.

WarmWash 9mo ago
Comments like the above one refer to community vibes, the types of comments that will get you lots of praise/upvotes. So while individuals have different beliefs, the "average expected top comment" for communities like HN is usually pretty predictable, and hence the cognitive dissonance of the community on the whole can be called out.

_DeadFred_ 9mo ago

There are now more private equity funds in the USA than McDonalds. The maximum wealth extraction of every single thing in people's lives is not viable for a continuing healthy society. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/private-equity-consolidation-fund-manager-kkr-carlyle-eqt-cvc-secondaries.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/private-equity-consolidation...

Aurornis 9mo ago
An important clarification if you're not familiar with the industry: A PE firm will often have multiple funds. There are not more PE firms than McDonalds in the USA.