Pile-ins, payouts, and pacing pressure: the investors behind the VCs open up
Published
What's this about?
The money behind the money is thrilled, mostly.
The one-panel cartoon
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A dimly lit, upscale conference room filled with investors poring over financial reports and animatedly discussing projected returns on venture capital investments.
Caption: The only risk they understand is running out of snacks.
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on techcrunch.com.
Editor's note
As the engines of venture capital continue to propel innovation at breakneck speed, it's worth pondering the long-term impacts of this frenetic pace on the technologies and startups that emerge. The excitement coursing through the corridors of capital today may shape the technological landscape for decades to come, for better or worse.
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Panel 1
(a) The subject of this story is the secondary investors behind venture capitalists (VCs) who provide the capital for high-risk, high-reward startups. These secondary investors are typically large financial institutions or wealthy individuals who are looking for significant returns on their investments. (b) The real irony or absurdity is the excitement and thrill of these secondary investors despite the often volatile and unpredictable nature of startup investments, which can result in substantial losses as well as massive gains. (c) The highlight is a dry, deadpan observation about the secondary investors' relentless optimism despite the high-risk nature of their investments.
Panel 2
*Setting: A luxurious boardroom with a large table, expensive artworks on the walls, and a group of well-dressed, serious-looking investors gathered around a table with laptops and papers spread out.* *Investor 1 (serious tone): * *Investor 2 (skeptical): * *Investor 1 (unfazed): *
Investor: We've just invested in a startup with a revolutionary new VR technology. They're projecting a 1000% ROI in five years.
Investor: And they've got no product, no team, and no revenue stream?
Investor: Exactly.
Panel 3
*Setting: The same boardroom, but now the investors are leaning back in their chairs, looking relaxed and confident, with a large screen projecting a graph showing sharp ups and downs.* *Investor 3 (calmly): * *Investor 4 (smiling wryly): *
Investor: The market's volatile, but that's the beauty of it. The more risk, the higher the potential reward.
Investor: Yeah, and we've got a great team of VCs who are willing to take the risks for us.
Panel 4
*Setting: The same boardroom, but now the investors are laughing and clinking glasses, with the screen showing a massive spike upward.* *Investor 5 (raising a glass): * *Investor 6 (deadpan, smiling): *
Investor: To the future! May the volatility serve us well!
Investor: Here's to hoping our next investment isn't a black hole.
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