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Comment by tyre | Hacker News Reader

You don't have to do Uber or bust, but don't ask for venture money without going for venture returns.

I do agree that there is a market opportunity to fund $50m/year businesses, but that's not what VCs are for.

VCs: Invest in 100 companies, 90 fail, 5 return capital, 3 return 10x, 2 return 100x | 2.35x return on capital over a 10 year period (hopefully)

Index fund: 6% yearly return | 1.79x return on capital over 10 year period

Traditional small business loans average 6-9% APR and have a higher failure rate than an index fund but lower than an index fund. Unfortunately, for startups, they require collateral and/or historical financials.

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I never understood this logic. Investors want unicorns but it's not like they're going to hate you for only giving them a 5x ROI.

Most startups either fail or become small businesses. Investors are giving you money to fund a business that you own. Depending on the terms you can, and should, use that money for whatever you want.

Its the investors problem if 5x returns aren't good enough, not yours. Does the bank call you to complain that your mortgage interest rate is too low? No. They gave you the loan with what they thought was reasonable terms at the time. It's not your fault they gave you the money too easily.

You should be focused 100% on building a successful sustainable business. Investors can fuck right off if they push for risks that could turn their 5x return into 0.

That requires that you have board control. If investors control the board and you tell them to fuck right off, you will quickly find yourself out of a job.

Board control isn't the problem at seed. You'll usually have board control. But if you need another round of funding, the investors control the company.

If your seed investors are "name brand", and they pass and say, "Ah yes, they're very nice guys. Wonderful conscience, very punctual. Unfortunately I can't follow on, my capital's already allocated. I wish them luck.", you'd better have a plan for profitability.

VCs can't reasonably invest in a company where their upside is capped at a 5x return, because they need the long tail, 20x-100x returns to pay for all the 0x returns in the portfolio.

No, a VC doesn't hate you at the end of the game if they get paid 5x. That's different than answering the question "Will they invest for a promise of a 5x return?"

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