VC term sheets came from whaling expeditions — and Columbus got a 10% carry seed round
DenehyXXL · x · 2026-09-22
A fun thread on the deep history of VC terms:
- maxkolysh notes many VC structures came from 19th-century whaling expeditions: the whaling agent (GP) raised money from wealthy merchants (LPs) to fund multiple voyages, taking a cut of profits; captains and crews got no wages but the 'lay' (carry) — a fixed fraction of the cargo. 'Carried interest' literally means the cargo carried back.
- DenehyXXL adds: earlier still, Ferdinand and Isabella wrote a term sheet for Columbus's first voyage — $1M in today's dollars, a seed round where he got 10% carry with a co-invest option.
Many 'modern' VC inventions are centuries old.
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