From ofo to AI: does VC kingmaking actually work when capital is front-loaded?
arian_ghashghai · x · 2026-09-12
Citing ofo—founded 2014, $1.3B raised across 5 rounds before 2017, collapsed in 2018 on bad unit economics—the author argues that overfunding before validation tends to hurt more than help. Big exits did raise huge rounds, but incrementally and on real milestones, unlike today's front-loaded AI bets, which he calls a company-building experiment.
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