- The perception that founders with big tech "credentials" stand a better chance of success than those without. The founders of Humane were ex-Apple.
- The idea that founders will generally be more successful on their second try, even if their first ended up being a complete trash fire - see Adam Neumann's new venture. This one sounds more reasonable on the surface but I've got no data to back it.
For whatever reason, the failure of their tenure at past companies (or the failure of their past companies outright) are usually not held against them.
But wait, these execs need insane compensation because, conveniently, "they have the special skills needed to be an exec" [see my first sentence].
SV and the tech world has this idea that many execs and founders are something like Steve Jobs. They love to promote that image. Actually, from my experience, they're more like Elizabeth Holmes or your random MBA/MBB alum psychopath failing upwards.
Because they aren't shareholders, they're insiders who also own shares.
yeah, for example, purchasing a magazine about surfing