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
- VC: the invest-mark-up-sell-secondary game is starving bold founders of seed capital — arian_ghashghai · 2026-10-21
- AI app-layer acquisitions are now mostly about founders and customers, not tech — signulll · 2026-10-21
- AI app-layer M&A is now mainly for founder talent or customer relationships — DeepLearningAI · 2026-10-21
- Vanta CEO on the 'boring and complex' playbook, eating AI costs, and 10X comp — soleio · 2026-10-21
- VC investor argues massive funding rounds reflect over-financialized private markets — arian_ghashghai · 2026-10-21
- AI SaaS monetization is cooked: consumers small, enterprises pay $20/month — menhguin · 2026-10-21