[jondubois]

> Most of the people who think so are being very stupid.

VCs make a profit by selling startups to big corporations or big investors via IPO. Most startups have negative cash flow and make negative profits by the time they are acquired by a corporation or investors. This means that VCs make a profit by creating negative value. Most VC-funded startups with a successful exit never become profitable. Those few startups that do manage to IPO and eventually become profitable are usually those who happen to have a monopoly over some industry; in other words, they are only profitable because consumers have no other alternatives to choose from; so they get to set the price. Believing that VCs create negative value is not stupid. Not seeing that it might be the case is what's stupid.

[thecleaner]

I see what you mean. But the actual point was about exploiting family businesses and mistreating people. I am not sure what it has to do with your negative value argument.