[milesrout]

Bezos is effective because his company engages in illegal anti-competitive practices. Amazon either breaks even or loses money, and the reason is because they have incredibly low prices. Why do they have incredibly low prices? Because they can, because they have the venture capital, and because others can't compete with those prices without that venture capital.

We're quickly reaching the point where without venture capital, there's no way to enter any market anymore. You can't start a company and just produce good products worth paying for. You have to have enough VC to be able to withstand sustained market pressure from those who do have it and can spend you out of the market by lowering their prices.

There's a reason that these practices are illegal.

Plus they pay fuck all tax.

[iamnotlarry]

You can open a hair salon without venture capital.

You can start a tech consulting company without venture capital.

You can start a construction company, a law practice, an auto repair shop, or a dental practice without venture capital.

Oh, you mean that you can't build a multi-billion dollar company overnight without venture capital?

Thank you for your insight.

[milesrout]

>Oh, you mean that you can't build a multi-billion dollar company overnight without venture capital?

No, you can't build a large company ever without venture capital. Money begets money. The only way that any company will ever be large in the future is if some other existing billionaire decides they think they deserve funding.

[terryf]

I beg to differ. Here are a few examples that you might have heard of: ESRI Oracle