Anil Dash: Understanding the rise of 'Cancer Capital' and how VC stopped being VC
tlhunter · hn · 2026-09-03
Blogger Anil Dash argues that venture capital has drifted from its original mission of backing long-term innovation into what he calls "Cancer Capital" — capital that extracts short-term returns while hollowing out startups and the broader ecosystem. The essay traces how this shift happened and why it matters, sparking discussion on HN about VC culture in the current AI boom.
More from Venture
- Cutting 'AI agents' from his landing page dropped Meta CPA by 70% — tyler_agg · 2026-10-21
- Nvidia guides 70% growth citing unmet AI demand, while media panics over a $500M Korean neocloud IPO — firstadopter · 2026-10-21
- MCP Platform NitroStack Wins Product Hunt Product of the Day, Focuses on Retention — EstablishmentFun4373 · 2026-10-21
- Affiniti Pivots Into an AI-Native Operating System for 3,300+ Main Street Businesses — jfiance · 2026-10-21
- AI stocks now 49% of the S&P 500, 2nd-largest concentration behind only 1880s railroads — SumitGup · 2026-10-21
- Polymarket puts just 7% odds on OpenAI pausing AI training this year — Polymarket · 2026-10-21