Venture, Let’s Stop Belittling Venture

By Rohit Yadav

It’s a cold, windy morning. I’m clutching my green tea like it’s a lifeline (yes, I’m that person with a tea routine — don’t judge). I unlock my phone for my sacred ritual: scrolling the news and pretending it’s productive.

And then — bam. Another one. Another LinkedIn post.

My brain screams, “Noope.”

Honestly? I should’ve gone with the ashwagandha. I need the extra zen.

Slowly, then much more

Venture capital has always been the freestyle engine of finance — less Wall Street, more Patagonia puffer. Hoodie millionaires. Pitch decks over pour-overs. If the outfits didn’t say enough, there’s always the annual VC pilgrimage to Burning Man, or Cape Town check-ins in winter.

This world runs on capital, but it thrives on narrative. And with narrative comes emotion. Venture has always prided itself on open minds and blunt feedback. For years, Twitter (sorry, “X”) was the town square where sharp elbows and spicy takes ruled the feed. It didn’t matter if you were right — just that you were fast, loud and maybe a little clever.

As one investor once told me, “If it’s not controversial, I’m not interested.” That about sums it up.

Then muddier

Tough conversations were once a sign of maturity. Challenging norms? Encouraged. But somewhere along the way, we swapped substance for spectacle. If your “venture is broken” take isn’t pulling 100+ likes, you haven’t belittled hard enough. Then, we went from calling things “broken” to outright obituaries:

“Venture is dead.”
“Fintech is dead.”
“The Bay Area is over.”
“[Insert top-tier firm] has lost its edge.”

These aren’t parodies but are inspired by real tweets, headlines and conversations. The digital walls of venture are covered in postmortems — some thoughtful, many performative, nearly all engineered for engagement.

But don’t scroll just yet. Because the belittling has evolved. Now it’s less yelling, more passive-aggressive storytelling. The new wave of venture-bashing doesn’t just point fingers — it points fingers while pretending not to.

Here’s the move: “Things got crazy in 2020–21. VCs lost discipline.”

Sounds neutral, right? But the subtext is clear: “We were the adults in the room. Others? Oh, they lost their minds.”

It’s poetic blame-shifting. A collective shrug wrapped in plausible deniability. The irony? Many of the people nodding along were part of the very hype machine they now critique.

Everyone wants to be the exception while trashing the rule.

This isn’t just criticism — it’s performance. Content dressed up as insight. The more dramatic the headline, the more traction it gets. And still, the real question isn’t “Why are we doing this?” It’s “Why is it working so well?”

Productive, respectful, thoughtful

People are smart. Algorithms? Not so much.

We optimize for virality, write for heat and lean into controversy. But when those same hot takes show up in LP meetings or startup boardrooms, the subtext isn’t lost. The shade isn’t subtle. And the people we think we’re fooling? They see right through it.

We all know when critique is just clout in costume.

So here’s my take: shed the shenanigans. We don’t need to burn venture capitalists to the ground just to get attention. We don’t need to write a eulogy to inspire a fix. Not everything needs to be dismantled with belittling one-liners.

Sometimes the most radical move is to be constructive. We need a return to a culture of building. That includes how we talk about our own industry. The past few years? Messy. Mistakes? Plenty. But that doesn’t mean the model is dead.

It means we adapt, learn, recalibrate. That’s what mature ecosystems do. That’s what good investors do.

Let’s make venture beautiful again — not by softening it, but by sharpening it with honesty.

Thoughtful doesn’t mean toothless. Respectful doesn’t mean boring. And productive doesn’t mean blindly optimistic. It means advancing the conversation without burning the village down for clicks.

Because venture capital matters. It funds the ideas that shape our future. The money we deploy isn’t just capital — it’s belief. And belief, wielded well, is a force multiplier for innovation.

We need that now more than ever. The stakes are too high for performative nihilism. If we want to sit at the table where the future gets built, let’s act like we deserve to be there. Not by belittling the game. But by raising the standard.

Rohit Yadav is the creator of The Big Book of VC, a quarterly insights project known for its “Venture Knowledge Alpha” tagline. His investment expertise goes beyond venture, spanning real estate, renewables, infrastructure and equities. As the host of TheOnePoint podcast, he explores niche venture topics with founders, VCs and LPs, bringing fresh perspectives to the industry. Yadav has hands-on experience in tech, sales and product roles, and combines investment acumen with real-world operational and tech knowledge.

Illustration: Dom Guzman