A short transcript excerpt of a conversation (April 8, 2024) featuring Jason M. Lemkin discussing attitudes toward money in venture capital. Lemkin argues that while indifference to money can help at the very early stage, long-term successful VCs must be driven to generate returns and often obsess over downside protection; he also notes a subset of career VCs who are overly downside-focused and mediocre.
I actually think that I'm not sure if in venture if not caring about money is a positive. I think it has some positives at the pre seed stage. Right? But I really think it to go long in this business, you've just got to bleed money. You've got to want to put the zeros and ones in your bank account.
I find the ones.
That do overly.
Optimize around money downside.
Protect a lot.
They continuously worry about portfolio management, selling positions. But fundamentally upside maximization.
Is our game here for sure. I think there is a category of lifer VC with no other opportunity that are mediocre investors that can be inadvertently toxic. They can be so focused on the downside they have no other possible career path and they have no savings. Right. There are many of them.
