Link: Why There Aren’t More Googles
from Why There Aren’t More Googles by Paul Graham:
[On VC's:] The most surprising thing I’ve learned is how conservative they are. VC firms present an image of boldly encouraging innovation. Only a handful actually do, and even they are more conservative in reality than you’d guess from reading their sites.I used to think of VCs as piratical: bold but unscrupulous. On closer acquaintance they turn out to be more like bureaucrats. They’re more upstanding than I used to think (the good ones, at least), but less bold. Maybe the VC industry has changed. Maybe they used to be bolder. But I suspect it’s the startup world that has changed, not them. The low cost of starting a startup means the average good bet is a riskier one, but most existing VC firms still operate as if they were investing in hardware startups in 1985.
Graham communicates a sentiment that is very common in the startup world today. Read the article. I am excited to be able to meet Paul Graham in person this weekend — I am listening to him speak and was invited to a dinner at the Y Combinator.
Sometimes I wonder, when startups complain about the way VCs are stuck in an old model of investing, if it’s we, the startups, that are at fault. The Internet, even Web 2.0, is becoming an established industry that doesn’t operate under the old business models — so maybe VCs need to move on to the next, next thing.
What is that? Well I am working on building a microwave oven that works in reverse, you set it for 30 seconds, and it makes your food colder. Now accepting investors.
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