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Victoria Silchenko Books

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“So, I want you to slow down. Take a pause. Breathe deeply. And start thinking – not from “outside the box” (p-l-e-a-s-e). Just think. There. Is. No. Box.”

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“Our boundless optimism is what keeps us, self-starters alive, but there is a thin line between being an optimist and being delusional.”

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“One of my younger friends here in Los Angeles told me, “They call us a lost generation, but we’re not stupid. The stock market exists for accredited investors to cash out. We’re not in that club, so we created our own. Go Bitcoin!”

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“There is almost something contagious in the air here when you suddenly start to think of that market need no one has addressed yet, realizing that “to be sane in a world of madmen is in itself madness,” to quote Jean-Jacques Rousseau.”

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“The overall data shows that more than twice the money flows into venture capital from LPs than comes back to them in a given year. I wanted to hold onto something positive from this industry—after all, I’ve met a few brilliant people in it—but looking at the data, it’s hard, if not impossible. In a Freudian sense, it's worth remembering that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar—not everything has a deeper psychological meaning. VCs have made it look like magic, but the illusion disappears once you turn on the lights. At its core, venture capital isn’t as much a unique asset class as it is a troubled one. The industry survives by injecting more and more capital each year, while leaving the majority of limited partners stuck at the losing end of a pay-your-bid auction.”

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“I am not saying that VCs are despicably evil (that would be investment bankers), but you would be better spending more time on building your business than building and polishing the pitch deck.”

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“The world cries out for impactful ideas and ventures, and alas, most such ideas are not viable for the majority of financiers, who focus on investment returns rather than social impact—impact that aligns with the well-being of individuals and families. Ironically, that is simply rational behavior on their part. But you know this, right?”

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“Yes, capital is the oxygen in the life of a startup. But then again, acquiring capital is not the purpose of your startup—just as breathing oxygen is not the purpose of human life. It’s almost comical how we chase investors, running around as if we’re in a game of musical chairs.”

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“Sadly enough, while we all keep segregating ourselves into little tribes, passionately claiming our moral rights and neglected privileges to capital access, we overlook the fact that the real divide comes down to just two sides. Those of us with the desire and mental ability to build and innovate —or, as it's called in finance, the "sell-side." And then there's the "buy-side"—the folks who have some spare capital to invest. How did they get that extra capital in the first place? Good question—fair question.”

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“I am not stating that every startup deserves to succeed or should get funding without effort. I am saying that the pitching arena should start shifting toward a reversed scene, where natural selection, in a Darwinian fashion, applies to investors pitching themselves—showing how they can help and contribute beyond just money. Until that happens, our modern startup world can best be described exactly as Jennifer Lopez’s character put it in her 2019 hit movie Hustlers: “We are all living in a gigantic strip club where you got people tossing the money… and people doing the dance.”

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“Simply put, we need plenty of risk capital flowing into the real economy—into real startups solving real problems. If we live in a world where small businesses—the true engines of the economy and job creation—are dying faster than they’re being born, it raises a critical question: What’s wrong with a financing system that’s supposed to provide the oxygen for new ventures? Do you hear me, derivatives traders?”

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“I believe that any meaningful change requires initiating the kind of conversations that make people uncomfortable. I believe in asking questions – and searching for the truth. I have questions and would rather “have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned,” paraphrasing Richard Feynman, a quantum physicist and Nobel prize winner who lived here in Los Angeles.”

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“Here, I must say that some terminology in the language of finance is slightly misleading. Uber’s “loss” largely means heavy investments in other businesses and stock-based compensation stemming from the company's initial public offering. Unsurprisingly, Travis Kalanick, Uber’s co-founder, sold nearly $1 billion in company shares the moment Uber’s IPO lockup period (read: the timeframe when you can’t sell your shares) was over. Duh. When a company files for an IPO instead of bankruptcy, the IPO should be renamed a bailout—because modern business solutions require modern business jargon. #sarcasm”

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“In entrepreneurial finance, the asymmetry between what needs to be backed and what actually gets financed—often driven by purely speculative expectations—is truly remarkable. Case in point: CB Insights has been doing an admirable job publishing its "mortality reports," analyzing why some of the most promising and heavily vetted startups fail. And for years, the number one reason for failure among VC-backed startups has remained the same: There was no market need.”

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“Most of us eagerly celebrate yet another mega deal, cheering for a founder who landed a venture capital fund and secured a sizeable investment. Now, let’s pause and think about what that actually means. It signals that our fellow entrepreneur has officially taken on… yes, a liability burden.”

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“You might well ask—what now then, shall I stop looking for capital? Haha, that’s like asking whether you should get married or not—as they say, you’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

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“I believe that in the 21st century, we need to redefine ownership, innovation, and capital—because if we don’t, we’ll soon wake up in a modern-day feudal society. And no, I’m not kidding. In the vast majority of countries, an average citizen can’t invest in a privately-held company—yet private equity, including direct investments, now makes up the largest share of family office portfolios, serving exclusively high-net-worth individuals.”

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“Now, if you live in the U.S., keep in mind that the average annual interest rate for a credit card ranges between 15-19%—while store credit cards and banks like Wells Fargo charge 25% or more. This means you’d have to generate returns comparable to the best-performing family offices—entities run by some of the most highly educated investment professionals in the world, whose full-time job is managing wealth. So, next time a VC thoughtfully suggests you bootstrap your business with a credit card, tell him to take a hike.”

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“Today. We. Have. Everything. You see, we now live in an age where markets—especially those with high purchasing power—are overserved to the point of absurdity. Let’s start with the fact that we now have over 4 million apps for just about everything—from monitoring your health and tracking your pet’s habits to making harmonica sounds with an iPhone in your mouth or using the chat app Yo—which exists solely to send your friends the word "Yo." The latter, by the way, managed to raise $1 million in seed funding.”

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“The saddest reality is that 30% of the clothes produced worldwide today are never sold. Now add to that the fact that up to 50% of food produced is never eaten—it simply gets thrown away. This should make you pause and reflect on one of the most disturbing examples of massive market inefficiency happening across every wealthy country—from the United States to Sweden (the home of H&M).”

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“If you’re looking for inspiration from Uber’s notorious magic, consider how it took an existing product, used existing technology, and delivered it to existing markets. Yet, its business model remains hard to replicate—and that’s the real magic trick. As the old Silicon Valley saying goes: If you can’t creatively turn $1 into $10, why do you expect to turn $1 million into $10 million?”

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“How on Earth was Uber, with its reported $10 billion loss from operations since 2016, and other gigantic creatures of the Internet Economy, able to flip the tedious “viability-profitability-expansion” route into an entirely new direction—“viability-expansion (maybe) profitability”? Elementary—by ensuring consistent financing or, simply put, by having access to capital on the fly and turning their business models into platforms instead of building traditional pipes, so that acquiring new businesses is not a question—it is the answer.”

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“Simply put, we need plenty of risk capital flowing into the real economy and real startups solving real problems. You see, if we’re living in an environment where small businesses—the real engines of the economy and job creators—are dying faster than they are being born, you start to wonder what’s wrong with a financing system that is meant to deliver the oxygen for new ventures. Do you hear me, derivatives’ traders? By the end of 2019, those guys scored $559 trillion – which would be equal to almost seven times the world total GDP that same year. What can go wrong?”

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“Simply put, we need plenty of risk capital flowing into the real economy and real startups solving real problems. You see, if we’re living in an environment where small businesses—the real engines of the economy and job creators—are dying faster than they are being born, you start to wonder what’s wrong with a financing system that is meant to deliver the oxygen for new ventures.”

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