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Ask HN: Do you aspire to be a venture capitalist?

36 points by hoodoof 11y ago

sarciszewski 11y ago
Not I.
thethinker1032 11y ago
Perhaps later in life.
hluska 11y ago
Yes, I do. Edit - I bet this would be a great poll.
wittedhaddock 11y ago
Absolutely not
kra34 11y ago
I think they prefer to be called robber barons these days
god_bless_texas 11y ago
I would love to be entrepreneur in residence at a VC firm because that would simply imply that I'd been successful as an entrepreneur.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
saosebastiao 11y ago
I used to, and then I worked for one. Granted, it wasn't a top tier firm, but I hobnobbed with plenty of partners from actual top tier firms and came to realize they are all pretty much the same. They are all cowboys that try to act like visionaries and sages, and either peter out or get lucky with a big exit, because a single big exit from your first fund is enough to guarantee the rest of your career. If I got an offer with AH though, I would take it. Hell, as an entrepreneur, I'd probably be skeptical of taking any money that wasn't from AH. They're the only ones that seem to do anything prescient.
- bsmith 11y ago
  AH == a16z
  - mountaineer 11y ago
    a16z == Andreessen Horowitz
- bsbechtel 11y ago
  What makes a16z so great? I know they have a great reputation, and do a good job marketing themselves, but what are the specifics that really help entrepreneurs?
  - saosebastiao 11y ago
    I started to notice a trend amongst VC partners. They talk a big talk, but most of them are pretty risk averse and will only invest if someone else jumps the gun first. A lot of times, there will be multiple VCs interested in a company but they will bullshit the founders about wanting to invest, and just sit around waiting for someone else to invest so they can jump on the bandwagon. What I find different about AH is that they invest when they want to invest, and don't care if other VCs are interested. Social proof isn't that important to them. And it's pretty crazy...they'll invest in a company that nobody else has been talking about and then out of nowhere the entire VC industry is throwing money at them.
jonathancordeau 11y ago
The ability to provide capital, access to a network, personal and professional support, real world experience (in that order) to founders in pursuit of helping them "change the world" is an awesome opportunity. Most VC's I've interacted with truly seem to feel this way. So in that sense, yes, it would be great to be a venture capitalist. Unfortunately, as argued in "The E-Myth", there are probably better avenues, at least for the later 3, to help founders, without the 800lb gorilla of submitting to the "VC system".
- ClassyHacker 11y ago
  The first one is probably the main reason behind answer to OP's question. "Do you aspire to be a venture capitalist?" "Do I have the ability to provide capital?"
mattzito 11y ago
I think it would be a very interesting business to be in - I think Id' be more interested in being a VC advisor, which I've done sporadically in the past. Get to be involved in interesting deals and get paid for it, without having the grind of keeping LPs happy.
- MathsOX 11y ago
  Would be interested in hearing how you got involved in this and get more color on your role, if you wanted to share.
  - mattzito 11y ago
    Sure - there's not much to tell. I was one of the founders of a venture-backed startup that raised a couple of rounds of funding from a set of VCs. I had/have pretty good relationships with a few of those, plus some other connections that I'd made through that process. Every once in a while I get a call or an email from one of them asking my opinion about an industry, a technology, or a specific company. From there it could be anything from a quick phone call, to a chat with the startup in question, to a full due diligence of their business and technology. Usually I'm involved either at the very early stages, "We're interested in maybe making an investment or three in this category", or very late, "We want to invest in this company, can you take a look at their technology and tell us what you think?"
danharaj 11y ago
I don't aspire to be any sort of capitalist.
- eli_gottlieb 11y ago
  Indeed! I don't understand what the point is in living one's life neither in leisure nor in actual work, but instead in acting as a chief of the capital casino. I'd rather be doing something than allocating somethings.
- mingus68040 11y ago
  What, are you so sure about that? You don't want to own property for a living, using nothing more than a legal title to take ownership of the goods and services produced by those who happen to work on that property, pay them less than the market value of those goods, and use the difference to buy titles to even more property? And then rely on the state to protect that property -- with extreme violence if necessary --- all without having to even step foot on its premises? Are you mad? I'd love to be able to do that!
m52go 11y ago
I'd rather be an adventure capitalist: contribute excellent products and services to the market, while living an adventurous life with the proceeds. What's the fun in sitting on your ass rating/gambling on others' fortunes? Make your own! BTW Aswath Damodaran once made a very astute point regarding VCs: they're traders, not investors, looking to enter low and exit high. Period. Anyone under the delusion that these people invest for the greater good is (largely) mistaken. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just not how I'd personally like to see my occupation defined.
- vijayr 11y ago
  contribute excellent products and services to the market, while living an adventurous life with the proceeds I'd bet most of the people who hang out in places like YC want the same. What is the probability of success though?
- ycosynot 11y ago
  Well, you're not helping by reinforcing the idea. People in general don't like people who get rich randomly (or as good as), because it's unfair (so it triggers the anti-cheat response), and yet, it's needed. So we should be careful of the bias, and I think it'd be all the better if the occupation was taken by people who care about the definition of their occupation. The hate on traders is a feedback loop leading nowhere.
  - m52go 11y ago
    I'm indifferent to the situation. I don't hate traders & I don't hate VCs. I quite admire the few I've met. In a sense, one could say traders embody the essence of the human spirit. They provide an essential service for the markets, as you say, and that's fine. I just don't desire to be a part of it.
  - jklein11 11y ago
    Not sure why you got downvoted. This comment opened up my eyes to the reason why I am biased against traders. If I dislike people who are rewarded for the risks that they take I should also be sympathetic to those who took those risks and lost.
vcarl 11y ago
My pipe dream is to be a non-shitty version of Erlich from Silicon Valley. I'd love to run an "accelerator" program out of a space that I owned where you take a bunch of smart people and set them loose, it seems like a perfect cross between fierce capitalism and communal living.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  I want to do this in the Tampa area. Come hack in my huge house/workshop for free, keep your equity. I just want to see you build something cool.
  - edw519 11y ago
    OK. Sounds great. Please put your contact info in your HN profile.
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      Ahh! Excellent! I'm not quite ready yet :) (still in the process of buying the house). I shall add details shortly though!
      - S4M 11y ago
        Please do! It would be a place where people go, hack and network with like-minded people, and move on. You would have lots of screening to do though.
  - bengali3 11y ago
    reminds me of this, not sure about equity but "come build cool" is more important than "get next round" http://www.raizlabs.com/services/startup-incubator/ http://www.raizlabs.com/services/startup-incubator/
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      I care less about a sustainable business and more about social change. Watsi > Uber. That sort of thing. shrug
SeoxyS 11y ago
Yup, eventually. For me, it's one of the huge benefits of working at AngelList. VCs, Angels, and LPs walk in and out of the office every day, and I live and breath VC every day, while still working at a startup. I've learnt more about VC in 8 months at AngelList than most founders will in all their funding rounds combined. I used to think of myself as starting a successful company or two, and retiring to VC or as an Angel… I've come to realize that that scenario is entirely unrealistic. Few founders have the experience needed to do this right off the bat. It'd probably be hugely beneficial to anyone to work in the industry for a bit before jumping in. Work for a VC, or work for a VC-related company (e.g. AngelList, FundersClub, Equidate, eShares…) If this sounds interesting, we're hiring - https://angel.co/angellist/jobs https://angel.co/angellist/jobs.
rdl 11y ago
I've thought about it. I'd like to get involved in more due diligence for investors (I've done this on an ad hoc basis a several times), and probably be an EIR for 3-6 months whenever it is convenient. I would only consider the ~5 universal top tier plus the ~5 top tier in my area of interest (security/infrastructure). The full-time role I'd love would be opening up a new geography for a fund; say, a Berlin office for a top tier fund, focused on privacy/infosec/liberty investments in Europe. AngelList kind of kills all but the top tier. If I had more money, I'd be investing or syndicating on AngelList. I'd still rather do a startup again in a couple years, but EIR might be a nice transition, and seeing the other side would be interesting.
- andyidsinga 11y ago
  maybe you would actually be able to do this if you picked a non top tier firm, maybe a newer firm with lots of energy and people you find you like? your skills might make a bigger impact there
  - rdl 11y ago
    Several of the industry specific firms are pretty new, actually. The main challenge is time, not opportunity. I'm at a top tier "unicorn" startup right now, and my next best alternative is founding another startup. I probably would walk for a partnership track position in a top firm, but that's it. (Or "fix all of apple's online services", build apple's enterprise business, "make android or chromeos secure and secure against third party doctrine", secure the usg, or spacex, but nothing else.) There are some great niches in tech investing outside of early stage startups (a PE focused on turnarounds of ducked companies like yahoo or twitter?), but in early stage, if you aren't getting the top deals (by being known as top tier generally or in your market), why bother?
    - andyidsinga 11y ago
      certainly landing those positions and then following up with measurabe positive impact would be noteworthy.
nitam 11y ago
yes
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
sharkweek 11y ago
More interested in getting rich and then becoming an angel investor locally. I find the concept of really early stage ideas far more appealing than institutional investing. Now I just need to get wealthy myself...
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
Absolutely not, I'm already too close to the head of the 'against the wall when the revolution comes' line for my moral comfort.
theshadowmonkey 11y ago
I aspire to be a venture capitalist at some point in my life. For me, being a venture capitalist is more about spotting the right people and the right vision more than the money. Companies succeed and fail. VCs lose on a lot and gain on a few.

36 points by hoodoof 11y ago

sarciszewski 11y ago

Not I.

thethinker1032 11y ago

Perhaps later in life.

hluska 11y ago

Yes, I do. Edit - I bet this would be a great poll.

wittedhaddock 11y ago

Absolutely not

kra34 11y ago

I think they prefer to be called robber barons these days

god_bless_texas 11y ago

I would love to be entrepreneur in residence at a VC firm because that would simply imply that I'd been successful as an entrepreneur.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

saosebastiao 11y ago

I used to, and then I worked for one. Granted, it wasn't a top tier firm, but I hobnobbed with plenty of partners from actual top tier firms and came to realize they are all pretty much the same. They are all cowboys that try to act like visionaries and sages, and either peter out or get lucky with a big exit, because a single big exit from your first fund is enough to guarantee the rest of your career. If I got an offer with AH though, I would take it. Hell, as an entrepreneur, I'd probably be skeptical of taking any money that wasn't from AH. They're the only ones that seem to do anything prescient.

bsmith 11y ago
AH == a16z
- mountaineer 11y ago
  a16z == Andreessen Horowitz
bsbechtel 11y ago
What makes a16z so great? I know they have a great reputation, and do a good job marketing themselves, but what are the specifics that really help entrepreneurs?
- saosebastiao 11y ago
  I started to notice a trend amongst VC partners. They talk a big talk, but most of them are pretty risk averse and will only invest if someone else jumps the gun first. A lot of times, there will be multiple VCs interested in a company but they will bullshit the founders about wanting to invest, and just sit around waiting for someone else to invest so they can jump on the bandwagon. What I find different about AH is that they invest when they want to invest, and don't care if other VCs are interested. Social proof isn't that important to them. And it's pretty crazy...they'll invest in a company that nobody else has been talking about and then out of nowhere the entire VC industry is throwing money at them.

jonathancordeau 11y ago

The ability to provide capital, access to a network, personal and professional support, real world experience (in that order) to founders in pursuit of helping them "change the world" is an awesome opportunity. Most VC's I've interacted with truly seem to feel this way. So in that sense, yes, it would be great to be a venture capitalist. Unfortunately, as argued in "The E-Myth", there are probably better avenues, at least for the later 3, to help founders, without the 800lb gorilla of submitting to the "VC system".

ClassyHacker 11y ago
The first one is probably the main reason behind answer to OP's question. "Do you aspire to be a venture capitalist?" "Do I have the ability to provide capital?"

mattzito 11y ago

I think it would be a very interesting business to be in - I think Id' be more interested in being a VC advisor, which I've done sporadically in the past. Get to be involved in interesting deals and get paid for it, without having the grind of keeping LPs happy.

MathsOX 11y ago
Would be interested in hearing how you got involved in this and get more color on your role, if you wanted to share.
- mattzito 11y ago
  Sure - there's not much to tell. I was one of the founders of a venture-backed startup that raised a couple of rounds of funding from a set of VCs. I had/have pretty good relationships with a few of those, plus some other connections that I'd made through that process. Every once in a while I get a call or an email from one of them asking my opinion about an industry, a technology, or a specific company. From there it could be anything from a quick phone call, to a chat with the startup in question, to a full due diligence of their business and technology. Usually I'm involved either at the very early stages, "We're interested in maybe making an investment or three in this category", or very late, "We want to invest in this company, can you take a look at their technology and tell us what you think?"

danharaj 11y ago

I don't aspire to be any sort of capitalist.

eli_gottlieb 11y ago
Indeed! I don't understand what the point is in living one's life neither in leisure nor in actual work, but instead in acting as a chief of the capital casino. I'd rather be doing something than allocating somethings.
mingus68040 11y ago
What, are you so sure about that? You don't want to own property for a living, using nothing more than a legal title to take ownership of the goods and services produced by those who happen to work on that property, pay them less than the market value of those goods, and use the difference to buy titles to even more property? And then rely on the state to protect that property -- with extreme violence if necessary --- all without having to even step foot on its premises? Are you mad? I'd love to be able to do that!

m52go 11y ago

I'd rather be an adventure capitalist: contribute excellent products and services to the market, while living an adventurous life with the proceeds. What's the fun in sitting on your ass rating/gambling on others' fortunes? Make your own! BTW Aswath Damodaran once made a very astute point regarding VCs: they're traders, not investors, looking to enter low and exit high. Period. Anyone under the delusion that these people invest for the greater good is (largely) mistaken. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just not how I'd personally like to see my occupation defined.

vijayr 11y ago
contribute excellent products and services to the market, while living an adventurous life with the proceeds I'd bet most of the people who hang out in places like YC want the same. What is the probability of success though?
ycosynot 11y ago
Well, you're not helping by reinforcing the idea. People in general don't like people who get rich randomly (or as good as), because it's unfair (so it triggers the anti-cheat response), and yet, it's needed. So we should be careful of the bias, and I think it'd be all the better if the occupation was taken by people who care about the definition of their occupation. The hate on traders is a feedback loop leading nowhere.
- m52go 11y ago
  I'm indifferent to the situation. I don't hate traders & I don't hate VCs. I quite admire the few I've met. In a sense, one could say traders embody the essence of the human spirit. They provide an essential service for the markets, as you say, and that's fine. I just don't desire to be a part of it.
- jklein11 11y ago
  Not sure why you got downvoted. This comment opened up my eyes to the reason why I am biased against traders. If I dislike people who are rewarded for the risks that they take I should also be sympathetic to those who took those risks and lost.

vcarl 11y ago

My pipe dream is to be a non-shitty version of Erlich from Silicon Valley. I'd love to run an "accelerator" program out of a space that I owned where you take a bunch of smart people and set them loose, it seems like a perfect cross between fierce capitalism and communal living.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
I want to do this in the Tampa area. Come hack in my huge house/workshop for free, keep your equity. I just want to see you build something cool.
- edw519 11y ago
  OK. Sounds great. Please put your contact info in your HN profile.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Ahh! Excellent! I'm not quite ready yet :) (still in the process of buying the house). I shall add details shortly though!
    - S4M 11y ago
      Please do! It would be a place where people go, hack and network with like-minded people, and move on. You would have lots of screening to do though.
- bengali3 11y ago
  reminds me of this, not sure about equity but "come build cool" is more important than "get next round" http://www.raizlabs.com/services/startup-incubator/ http://www.raizlabs.com/services/startup-incubator/
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    I care less about a sustainable business and more about social change. Watsi > Uber. That sort of thing. shrug

SeoxyS 11y ago

Yup, eventually. For me, it's one of the huge benefits of working at AngelList. VCs, Angels, and LPs walk in and out of the office every day, and I live and breath VC every day, while still working at a startup. I've learnt more about VC in 8 months at AngelList than most founders will in all their funding rounds combined. I used to think of myself as starting a successful company or two, and retiring to VC or as an Angel… I've come to realize that that scenario is entirely unrealistic. Few founders have the experience needed to do this right off the bat. It'd probably be hugely beneficial to anyone to work in the industry for a bit before jumping in. Work for a VC, or work for a VC-related company (e.g. AngelList, FundersClub, Equidate, eShares…) If this sounds interesting, we're hiring - https://angel.co/angellist/jobs https://angel.co/angellist/jobs.

rdl 11y ago

I've thought about it. I'd like to get involved in more due diligence for investors (I've done this on an ad hoc basis a several times), and probably be an EIR for 3-6 months whenever it is convenient. I would only consider the ~5 universal top tier plus the ~5 top tier in my area of interest (security/infrastructure). The full-time role I'd love would be opening up a new geography for a fund; say, a Berlin office for a top tier fund, focused on privacy/infosec/liberty investments in Europe. AngelList kind of kills all but the top tier. If I had more money, I'd be investing or syndicating on AngelList. I'd still rather do a startup again in a couple years, but EIR might be a nice transition, and seeing the other side would be interesting.

andyidsinga 11y ago
maybe you would actually be able to do this if you picked a non top tier firm, maybe a newer firm with lots of energy and people you find you like? your skills might make a bigger impact there
- rdl 11y ago
  Several of the industry specific firms are pretty new, actually. The main challenge is time, not opportunity. I'm at a top tier "unicorn" startup right now, and my next best alternative is founding another startup. I probably would walk for a partnership track position in a top firm, but that's it. (Or "fix all of apple's online services", build apple's enterprise business, "make android or chromeos secure and secure against third party doctrine", secure the usg, or spacex, but nothing else.) There are some great niches in tech investing outside of early stage startups (a PE focused on turnarounds of ducked companies like yahoo or twitter?), but in early stage, if you aren't getting the top deals (by being known as top tier generally or in your market), why bother?
  - andyidsinga 11y ago
    certainly landing those positions and then following up with measurabe positive impact would be noteworthy.

nitam 11y ago

yes

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

sharkweek 11y ago

More interested in getting rich and then becoming an angel investor locally. I find the concept of really early stage ideas far more appealing than institutional investing. Now I just need to get wealthy myself...

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago

Absolutely not, I'm already too close to the head of the 'against the wall when the revolution comes' line for my moral comfort.

theshadowmonkey 11y ago

I aspire to be a venture capitalist at some point in my life. For me, being a venture capitalist is more about spotting the right people and the right vision more than the money. Companies succeed and fail. VCs lose on a lot and gain on a few.