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    XrdsAlumMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:03am

    Since conducting this kind of harsh due diligence is what I spend a lot of time doing for my clients, I’m of two minds on this. On the one hand, when VCs and investors start bringing in people like me it means that the boom is over, which means bad times ahead for the economy.

    On the other hand: ka-ching!

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      ThewalkingdudeXrdsAlum
      5/21/16 11:13am

      which means bad times ahead for the economy.

      Or that the economy has stabilized to the point where VCs and investors don’t feel pressured to make unsafe bets just to stay competitive...

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      XrdsAlumThewalkingdude
      5/21/16 11:19am

      No, I mean just that. The American economy now surfs from one hype-inflated bubble to another. The “sharing/gig economy” boom that was going to make us all micro-entrepreneurs is petering out as it runs up against real-world limitations, so investors now have to ask the questions they should have been asking all along.

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    Jeb! & The HologramsMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:03am

    Ah, for the halcyon days when you could get a rich white dude to give you $30m because you had an idea for a “thing” that did “stuff.”

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      PunditGuyJeb! & The Holograms
      5/21/16 11:46am

      Sure, it’s a thing that does stuff — but it does it in the cloud.

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      lwleanderJeb! & The Holograms
      5/21/16 11:51am

      Or the days five years from now after the next tech/vc crash craters sinks the economy, we save it, it goes into recovery, and all the same maggots reattach themselves again and do the exact same fucking thing over again. With nobody in government or business caring one iota. God this is a fucking great country.

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    interrogator-chaplainMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:00am

    Welp, the golden age of start-ups is dead. Back to making cheap As-Seen-On-TV knick knacks.

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      lorem ipsuminterrogator-chaplain
      5/21/16 11:18am

      Right....instead of 4,000 fremium “messaging” apps for millenial douchebags.

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      Cam/roninterrogator-chaplain
      5/21/16 12:14pm

      My local mall has a store dedicated to “As Seen on TV!” crap.

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    EatTheCheeseNicholsonMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:01am

    Somebody has to ask the hard questions

    GIF
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      lorem ipsumEatTheCheeseNicholson
      5/21/16 11:19am

      It certainly is....

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      clickbaitandswitchlorem ipsum
      5/21/16 11:46am

      *wiping tears away* this has me laughing unchecked like the FB Live Chewie mask Mom...aAAAAAh. “AND IT’S WORTH IT TO ME!”

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    TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Melissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:47am

    Oh woe, entrepreneurs are being subjected to a glorified job interview. It’s astounding that it took VC this long to realize that they hold all the cards in this relationship.

    Clearly, what we need is a labor union for oppressed small business owners. /s

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      notfromvenusTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      5/21/16 3:04pm

      I’m not sure you can call someone looking for $30m in VC a “small business owner”.

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      TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)notfromvenus
      5/21/16 3:14pm

      Hence the sarcasm tag. Well, one of the reasons. I was being sarcastic regarding both their oppression and their status as small business owners.

      Then again, arguably, the biggest difference between a Silicon Valley startup and an everyday small business is the nature of their financing. Small businesses are wise to make sure, from day one, that they have enough savings and/or credit to sustain three years of operating at a loss, regardless of their specialty. VCs are, fundamentally, simply an alternative source of financing with different terms.

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    jezbannedMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:10am

    “Venture capitalists are putting founders through everything short of a proctology exam before they invest,”

    “As he tried to garner new capital for his company Dyn, which monitors and reroutes Internet traffic, potential investors peppered him with questions others had once glossed over. How would Dyn produce a return for them? Did Dyn have the size and scale to go public?”

    Haha.

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      Idontwanttothinkofonejezbanned
      5/21/16 11:14am

      The monsters!

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    Cam/ronMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:56am

    Whoops, too late.

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      ElPorcupinoCam/ron
      5/21/16 12:14pm

      Oh, stop picking on the young lady. She’s flim-flammed the likes of Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Riley Bechtel, and Sam Nunn (basically all angling for a repeat of the Carlyle Group). They’ve taken over her Board of Directors, and she’ll probably soon find herself hogtied in a car trunk, heading for Gitmo.

      Those are ‘Angels’ of a Worser Nature. ProTip, Ms. Holmes: Do not antagonize a man who greenlights genocide for a living.

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    Jerry-NetherlandMelissa Cronin
    5/21/16 11:05am

    It’s about time.

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      Stella Mudd's Divorce AttorneyMelissa Cronin
      5/21/16 12:08pm

      “Venture capitalists are putting founders through everything short of a proctology exam before they invest,” said Venky Ganesan... how difficult it is for startups to get money now that their backers actually ask them questions about what they do.

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