One thing that surprised me about becoming an investor is how morally active the investor community is. Before I knew anything about investors, I assumed they w

One thing that surprised me about becoming an investor is how morally active the investor community is. Before I knew anything about investors, I assumed they were just making ROI calculations. I don't just mean that they like to invest in upstanding people who treat their employees fairly, because that's also justified economically. I mean that most investors don't invest in things they don't want to be part of, even when they think they'd make money. For example, most investors won't invest in gambling, penny auctions or payday lending, since those things generally take advantage of unsophisticated consumers and seem like they're net-bad for the world. On the other hand, it's easier to convince investors to invest in green energy, STEM education, and developer tools because they want more of that to exist and want to be part of it. Investors cover the spectrum from very conservative to very liberal or libertarian. But whatever an investor's personal beliefs are, they are a significant factor in what they'll fund.