Obviously I very often agree with DHH's critiques of VC (hence our different approach w/ @earnestcapital) but I'm more optimistic about 14-year bootstrapped 1password raising $200m from a single VC (Accel). More 👇
One thing we're trying to change is the idea that raising money *always* equals the very specific set of assumptions around raise as much, grow as fast as possible or die trying. It's not a law, just the consensus among GPs/LPs in VC funds. But we could change it (it's changing)
Raising $200m as your first round probably means you are profitable and have a ton of leverage in the deal. This means the founders are not likely to give up control of the company. Raising capital *on your terms* mitigates much of the downsides that makes VC kill good businesses
Raising $200m after 14 years(!🙌!) bootstrapped probably means a good chunk of that is going to give founders/employees some liquidity for their hard work. The mega VCs like Accel are increasingly doing deals that don't look like what you traditionally think of as the VC🚀
Capital (from credit cards to loans to VC to Shared Earnings Agreements) is a means to an end. 1password has the right security ethos and a customer/revenue-focused model but faces increasing pressure from iOS/Google platforms + competitors.
The deal probably already values them at ~1$B and to me feels a lot more like a private equity growth play that gives 1password the ability to take a real shot at going mainstream with their model of customer-revenue-funded security without totally betting the company on 50x'ing
