[aiisahik]

This is typical VC masterbation.

1. This list is tiny. They have pass on 10000 more companies than the ones on this list. Most of that passing was done correctly

2. VCs rightly over-index on the big winners. The Facebooks and Airbnbs of the world are completely outsized in terms of one key thing: how much money they make for the GPs and LPs. However, as builders, we should not focus on these because they are few and far in between and you don't need to be a founder of one of these to have a life changing event. You just need a good 7 or 8 figure exit. VCs don't make money on an 8 figure exit so they train us to go big or go home. This webpage is another piece of that propaganda.

[pclmulqdq]

The honest portfolio of bad passes should include plenty of companies that they would happily include as "good exits" that they passed on. It should also include a number of companies that they effectively killed by not investing, when the company would otherwise have been a successful entry in their portfolio.

To me, this is a way to brag about them being so selective that they rejected Google, so you can be excited when they offer you a deal at Acme AI.

Everything about this page underscores the importance of access to deals. Bessemer can afford to pass on Google because the quality of deals they get is so high that it's not too bad to pass on winners.