[tptacek]

I was funded in 1999, at 2013 A-round levels. No EIR position awaited the failure of that company. Again: I don't even know anyone who's ever been offered an EIR position, and I know a fair number of people, many of whom have been funded, some of them by huge name VCs.

So, why don't we do it this way: why don't you name a couple people who've been recipients of "EIR sinecures"?

[U32LnJfiYoiLQP]

I know of a company where the parent of one of the founders made a ton of money for the VC. Twice. In exchange, one of the partners has put some seed money into the kid's startup. The seed money is a pittance compared to how much money the VCs got.

What's sad about it is that there's no entrepreneurial spark in the founders. They're not hungry for success. They're paying themselves way too much and working with no effect. The company will fail, and they'll go on to whatever nice lifestyle awaits them.

(edit: Note that I'm not saying that this is typical, just that there are examples of this "insider" activity.)

[michaelochurch]

What's sad about it is that there's no entrepreneurial spark in the founders. They're not hungry for success. They're paying themselves way too much and working with no effect. The company will fail, and they'll go on to whatever nice lifestyle awaits them.

This is interesting and insightful. I suppose the learned laziness these kids have is just as adverse to creative accomplishment as the learned helplessness that the rest of us end up with.

I should add that I don't actually think every VC-funded startup is bullshit. It just seems that the good ones are quite rare. They're also very selective (which they should be) but that becomes a problem when you've worked for garbage startups that have damaged your career. So you have to be really careful in the VC-istan game.

[yuhong]

Note the "in 1999". michaelochurch can you comment on when it started?

[danielweber]

Over the past decade I've had the, um, interesting experience of watching a number of start-ups fail, VC-funded or not, sometimes competitors to 'tptacek's companies. I've never seen an EIR landing. I'm not even sure there are enough EIR spots available.

Maybe lightning will strike and your name becomes recognizable on the front-page of the business section and then people throw results and funding at you in a self-fulfilling prophecy because they want to be on your good side. But I've also seen a lot of people team up with these famous folks only to massively regret it.

It's definitely not the most efficient graft-free super-meritocracy ever, and there's a lot of luck even once you get past that, but I just don't see it.