Thread by @chriscantino

1/ I’m not a trad VC. Came from nothing, been f*cked by investors. So I get it when I see the rejection of VC by web3 insiders. VC has problems.

But there's a strong case for building bridges instead of burning them.

Let’s redefine the role of VC to meet the needs of web3. 🧵

2/ First of all, plenty of web3 companies won’t need venture $$$. From Poolsuite to OpenDAO, bootstrapping community capital will be an obvious option.

These new models will experience growing pains, but activating skin in the game for communities fundamentally derisks projects.

3/ But there’s another class of businesses that need VC to shoot their shots. Especially the cash-intensive ones, if they want any chance at scale.

And let’s not minimized the value and resources of traditional capital networks.

Not everything needs to be community-funded.

4/ You can put BOTH to work.

Theoretically, leveraging community capital + traditional capital should be accretive to your biz.

But imagine raising a $2M Seed from your community, then hitting a ceiling—will trad capital be there to “jump in” and finance your A? Be strategic.

5/ Most importantly, web3 is a forcing function for ethical behavior.

If a community doesn’t like the way a company is being operated, or who’s funding it, they can fork the source code or vampire attack.

Web3 enables activist communities to defend against bad behavior.

6/ Look, VC has problems. I’ll be the first to admit it. We didn’t raise VC for our company, and we took it all the way anyway. IMO, we were better for it.

But it doesn’t change the fact that VC helps 1000s of founders shoot their shots—this is literally the reason it exists.

7/ Without it, many startups can’t tolerate risk, and would never get off the ground. We wouldn’t have Google, Amazon, OpenSea, Facebook, or Twitter.

Whether you like these companies or not, VC accelerates innovation like no other. When it’s leveraged PROPERLY, it is a godsend.

8/ The criticisms of VC, however, are completely fair. Especially when incentives become unaligned because too much money in capital ecosystems encourages marked up valuations, and unsustainable growth.

Remember: Venture is a competitive industry like any other.

9/ So go ahead, challenge VC. Dunk on it when it deserves it. But recognize its role, and let’s all build a better way together.

Know that there are few, if any, “evil” individuals conspiring to own web3. The ones I know work their asses off every day to support indie projects.

10/ If you’re building today, there’s no “right way” to finance growth. The choice is yours. Maintain an open mind, and keep your options on the table.

As long as we work together in the same direction, we are all going to make it.