Agree on "overpaying" part but the counter would be is that some of the best VC returns have been in deals that looked expensive at the time (e.g., Facebook, Stripe, Airbnb). Sometimes, the companies that can attract high valuations early are the ones that have the clearest path to category dominance, and refusing to "pay up" can mean missing out on generational winners.
Additionally, while the analogy to call options is really powerful, I like to hope that VCs can sometimes influence the outcome, unlike an options trader watching from the sidelines.
Thank you for your comments Ayub. Agree on the fact that sometimes best companies are expensive and that venture investing often has reflexivity unlike trading. Overall, I think that no analogy is perfect but this one was a useful to make certain points.
To seed, build, and nurture timeless, intangible human capitals — such as resilience, trust, truth, evolution, efficiency, fulfilment, quality, peace, patience, discipline, relationships and conviction — in order to elevate human judgment, deepen relationships, and restore sacred trusteeship and stewardship of long-term firm value across generations.
A refreshing, original take on our business world and capitalism.
A reflection on why today’s capital architectures—PE, VC, Hedge funds, SPAC, Alt funds, Rollups—mostly fail to build and nuture what time can trust.
“Built to Be Left.”
A quiet anatomy of extraction, abandonment, and the collapse of stewardship.
"Principal-Agent Risk is not a flaw in the system.
Agree on "overpaying" part but the counter would be is that some of the best VC returns have been in deals that looked expensive at the time (e.g., Facebook, Stripe, Airbnb). Sometimes, the companies that can attract high valuations early are the ones that have the clearest path to category dominance, and refusing to "pay up" can mean missing out on generational winners.
Additionally, while the analogy to call options is really powerful, I like to hope that VCs can sometimes influence the outcome, unlike an options trader watching from the sidelines.
Thank you for your comments Ayub. Agree on the fact that sometimes best companies are expensive and that venture investing often has reflexivity unlike trading. Overall, I think that no analogy is perfect but this one was a useful to make certain points.
Thank you for the response Yavuzhan, Agreed they are always exception, but I do like the point you were making. Looking forward to next one.
Hello Yavuzhan,
I hope this communique finds you in a moment of stillness. Have huge respect for your work.
We’ve just opened the first door of something we’ve been quietly crafting for years—
A work not meant for markets, but for reflection and memory.
Not designed to perform, but to endure.
It’s called The Silent Treasury.
A place where judgment is kept like firewood: dry, sacred, and meant for long winters.
Where trust, patience, and self-stewardship are treated as capital—more rare, perhaps, than liquidity itself.
This first piece speaks to a quiet truth we’ve long sat with:
Why many modern PE, VC, Hedge, Alt funds, SPAC, and rollups fracture before they truly root.
And what it means to build something meant to be left, not merely exited.
It’s not short. Or viral. But it’s built to last.
And if it speaks to something you’ve always known but rarely seen expressed,
then perhaps this work belongs in your world.
The publication link is enclosed, should you wish to open it.
https://helloin.substack.com/p/built-to-be-left?r=5i8pez
Warmly,
The Silent Treasury
A vault where wisdom echoes in stillness, and eternity breathes.
Hello there,
Huge Respect for your work!
New here. No huge reader base Yet.
But the work has waited long to be spoken.
Its truths have roots older than this platform.
My Sub-stack Purpose
To seed, build, and nurture timeless, intangible human capitals — such as resilience, trust, truth, evolution, efficiency, fulfilment, quality, peace, patience, discipline, relationships and conviction — in order to elevate human judgment, deepen relationships, and restore sacred trusteeship and stewardship of long-term firm value across generations.
A refreshing, original take on our business world and capitalism.
A reflection on why today’s capital architectures—PE, VC, Hedge funds, SPAC, Alt funds, Rollups—mostly fail to build and nuture what time can trust.
“Built to Be Left.”
A quiet anatomy of extraction, abandonment, and the collapse of stewardship.
"Principal-Agent Risk is not a flaw in the system.
It is the system’s operating principle”
Experience first. Return if it speaks to you.
- The Silent Treasury
https://tinyurl.com/48m97w5e