Venture capitalists benefit themselves and a handful of other people economically, while providing funding for services that are -- in so many cases -- vacuous garbage. The tubes of the internet are clogged with pr0n, but where is a single good site for searching #haskell?

However, my point was a little more general -- it makes most sense in connection with the bit about work and reward. Doctors and lawyers are portrayed as civil servants in the article, and this is used to drum up some sympathy for their relative impoverishment (relative to VCs). Why don't they mention the poor nurses?

Doctors and lawyers have ridden the demand curve long enough; they now find themselves contending with people who do even less and make even more, and they complain. Reflection would have been a more respectable response.

I'm forced to reconsider this remark. Venture capitalists -- like all investors -- play an important role in bridging the gap between consumer demand and actual innovation. They are less risk averse than most investors, though -- and more able to drop a bunch of money all in one go -- so they tend to be more timely than other investors.