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Poor people are likely as rare in elite Silicon Valley investor portfolios. The vast majority of investors today are from upper middle class backgrounds and ed

by staunch 12y ago

Poor people are likely as rare in elite Silicon Valley investor portfolios. The vast majority of investors today are from upper middle class backgrounds and educations. We know this isn't based on merit because they're almost universally bad at investing. But who makes the decision to invest in VCs? It's LP money managers with almost identical backgrounds.

johnnydayld 12y ago
"upper class"? As in aristocrats? Old money? I don't really think so. Maybe upper middle class.
- chc 12y ago
  We don't have aristocrats in the US. The term refers to people with wealthy backgrounds.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
    "We don't have aristocrats in the US." Not yet.
  - alistairSH 12y ago
    The Kennedys and Bushes disagree with that assertion. ;)
  - lotsofmangos 12y ago
    Sure you do, you just call them dynasties. edit - There is loads of European aristocracy in power in the US. "The frequency with which royal blood has found its way into the White House is much higher than the share of the American population with links to British or European monarchs, which is estimated at less than 5 percent. In short, American Presidents have been at least six times more likely to have royal blood than the people who elected them." http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/05/us/bush-they-say-is-indeed-a-connecticut-yankee-from-king-henry-s-court.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/05/us/bush-they-say-is-indeed...
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
gnarbarian 12y ago
Investing in poor people who are bad at managing their own money or improving their lot in life is probably not going to get you very good returns. All joking aside. Upper middle class families are more likely to value, encourage and afford personal computers for their kids. That's what got me into programming. I started using my dad's computer too much when he had to work, so he bought the parts and a friend and I built my first computer at 14 with an awesome Riva TNT2 Ultra graphics card.
- thaumasiotes 12y ago
  > Upper middle class families are more likely to value, encourage and afford personal computers for their kids. Afford, sure. Value and encourage? I'd say they're more likely to demonize personal computers than to encourage them. My mom recently bought laptops for my little brother and sister, but she can't stand that they want to use them. Among the middle class, computers for children have become yet another parenting moral panic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30

by staunch 12y ago

johnnydayld 12y ago

"upper class"? As in aristocrats? Old money? I don't really think so. Maybe upper middle class.

chc 12y ago
We don't have aristocrats in the US. The term refers to people with wealthy backgrounds.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  "We don't have aristocrats in the US." Not yet.
- alistairSH 12y ago
  The Kennedys and Bushes disagree with that assertion. ;)
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  Sure you do, you just call them dynasties. edit - There is loads of European aristocracy in power in the US. "The frequency with which royal blood has found its way into the White House is much higher than the share of the American population with links to British or European monarchs, which is estimated at less than 5 percent. In short, American Presidents have been at least six times more likely to have royal blood than the people who elected them." http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/05/us/bush-they-say-is-indeed-a-connecticut-yankee-from-king-henry-s-court.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/05/us/bush-they-say-is-indeed...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

gnarbarian 12y ago

Investing in poor people who are bad at managing their own money or improving their lot in life is probably not going to get you very good returns. All joking aside. Upper middle class families are more likely to value, encourage and afford personal computers for their kids. That's what got me into programming. I started using my dad's computer too much when he had to work, so he bought the parts and a friend and I built my first computer at 14 with an awesome Riva TNT2 Ultra graphics card.

thaumasiotes 12y ago
> Upper middle class families are more likely to value, encourage and afford personal computers for their kids. Afford, sure. Value and encourage? I'd say they're more likely to demonize personal computers than to encourage them. My mom recently bought laptops for my little brother and sister, but she can't stand that they want to use them. Among the middle class, computers for children have become yet another parenting moral panic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/06/30