VC: the invest-mark-up-sell-secondary game is starving bold founders of seed capital

arian_ghashghai · x · 2026-10-21

Investor arianghashghai argues the private market has become excessively financialized: most VCs now play an invest → mark up → sell secondary game, fueled by cheap private capital, which deters companies from creating public-market liquidity for shareholders — with virtually no regulatory oversight, participants aspire to a pseudo-liquid private market. On the flip side, he says a record share of talented founders pursuing bold, venture-worthy ideas are going unfunded because investors doubt they can "play the game" — alpha for investors like him, bad for innovation as a whole.

Related event: Investor Slams VC's Pump-and-Sell Secondaries Game(2 posts)→

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