At the risk of being an iconoclast and at the risk of offending people with the below, these are the tenets of venture capital today. You have been warned.
My investments will work out. They have to. Please.
Everyone else is dumber than I am.
My peers have died at the cross for me already. Their portfolios have died at the cross for me. The mega funds have died at the cross for me. I am absolved of my sins fueled by belief, hope, and my need to diligence the worthy.
VC is a power law business. I have yet to see the returns, not because they don’t exist, but because we are still in J-curve, at the very beginning of the hockey stick growth. I need only to believe in this truth as much as to leverage other people’s money to back true risk-on businesses.
The mega funds investing is all the signal I need from the powers above to tell me I’m on the right track. Yet, what I am doing is venture, not what they are doing.
Venture as an asset class is now too big to fail.
The gap between TVPI and DPI does not exist. It cannot. At the end of the day, moolah will be in the coolah. All paper marks will realize, collapsing the illusion of paper wealth into hard, undeniable absolute returns. Today, we are still pre-DPI. But believe that it will come. It’s a matter of when, not if.
Secondaries is the only answer I need. I guarantee someone else will want and buy what I have. For the price I have it at.
I was destined to do this the moment I wrote my first check. Whether it be in a friend or stranger, success or not, I knew I was meant for this. There is no other thing I’d rather do. Or not do.
Everyone who does not believe in me is foolish. Why can’t they see what I see? Are they blinded by only what’s in front of them? Are they blinded by the today that they can’t see my tomorrow?
Forgive me not, Father, for I have never sinned.
AI will replace every job. But never my job. Never me. I am above the collective consciousness.
Bible study sessions exist on Twitter/X. And I’m a regular attendee.
I repeat these prayers to myself thrice before sunrise. And thrice before the moon who shall be my witness.
There’s a Warren Buffett saying that relates to the world we live in now. “When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.” We are in a world where the reputation of venture capital has not changed for the past 15 years. Brilliant people have died, are dying, and will continue to die at the cross.
An LP once told me something I’m inclined to agree with. “A lot of LPs should be VCs. A lot of VCs should be founders. A lot of founders should be employees.” The world doesn’t need more VCs. The world needs more builders.
All that to say, I’m still bullish and actively investing in venture, but it’s undeniable that there is a lot of fluff going on here.
Appreciate those for reading the above drafts and helping me make it more trigger-worthy. 🙂
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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The views expressed on this blogpost are for informational purposes only. None of the views expressed herein constitute legal, investment, business, or tax advice. Any allusions or references to funds or companies are for illustrative purposes only, and should not be relied upon as investment recommendations. Consult a professional investment advisor prior to making any investment decisions.