

Venture capitalists are not record labels - emmanuelory
http://www.jacquesmattheij.com/venture+capitalists+are+not+record+labels

======
asanwal
Ok - VCs are not like record labels. I'm convinced. Who cares?

I know this post is by a venerable member of the HN community and so
questioning his posts may get me downvoted into oblivion, but I read this post
and wondered why this matters at all.

~~~
mmap
It may not matter to you. It is a well written piece and relevant to HN. Some
people enjoyed reading it and/or got something out of it so they upvoted it.
This is how it works.

~~~
asanwal
Thanks for clarifying how HN works. I also thought dissenting opinions were
welcome. My bad.

~~~
Apfel
Of course they're welcome! That's why yours is the first response!

------
yannickmahe
I've seen VC being called the "dark side" of entrepreneurship a few times (as
in "I launched a startup, got a successful exit and I now turned to the dark
side of VC"). It's of course partly joking, but probably also revealing of how
VCs are seen by the startup entrepreneurs.

I really says something about the record industry when comparing that "dark
side" to the recording industry is seen as derogatory to the "dark side".

Kinda reminds me of
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvenEvilHasStanda...](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvenEvilHasStandards)
on tvtropes.org

------
dustingetz
Seems to me the fundamental economic difference is that record labels control
distribution, so they have _much_ more leverage than VCs.

edit, found a source: _"This pattern is mirrored in many other industries,
such as the music industry, where record labels control radio / media
distribution and are much more powerful than the actual artists, or the
clothing industry, where small designers are beholden to retail outlets and
have to take terrible terms to get distribution. The takeaway? Being the
distribution platform is a lot better than being a producer."_

[1] [http://areallybadidea.com/what-i-learned-from-watching-
six-h...](http://areallybadidea.com/what-i-learned-from-watching-six-hours-of-
sta)

------
nickpinkston
Yea, so the only differences are cause by a less fluid market in the music
industry than the venture finance community... Right now - as infomation
asymmetries are being solved - labels are losing relevance. I guess the same
can be said for VCs too...

------
gschill21
I do a lot of work with record labels. VCs are incredibly different than
labels, labels do not support innovation...they support packaged hits/artists
and are on the way out. But I disagree with the comment, "Imagine record
labels staffed with nothing but the people from successful bands, using their
money to give other artists a faster way to the top." - Not all VCs are
staffed with successful entrepreneurs (some not even entrepreneurs) - I mean
what even defines a successful band? By your logic - that would be hits and
money - which is no longer an appropriate way to judge.

~~~
dbalatero
I think the phrase is quite apt if you remove the "successful" qualifier. Most
likely this was just an oversight in his writing.

"Imagine record labels staffed with nothing but the people from bands, using
their money to give other artists a faster way to the top."

This actually resonates with me deeply, as the record label I just launched
(<http://tableandchairsmusic.com>) is staffed with 14 out of 14 artists, and
we re-invest 100% of the money we make back into helping our artists grow. I
wouldn't say we're successful _yet_ , since we just launched last Saturday,
but we are in extreme support of innovation :)

------
j2d2j2d2
This post should consider the time of the industries. It would be more
appropriate to compare VC's to the record labels of the 60's up through the
late 90's.

The reason the analogy is ever made to begin with is not rooted in the nuances
of these two industries. It comes simply from the big hits nature of both
industries and how they both survive off the massive winnings of a very small
group of rock stars.

------
guan
He seems to be saying that they are pretty much like record labels, but they
behave a lot better.

------
TimothyBurgess
As someone who's signed to a record label (Victory Records) and has talked
with many other bands about their experiences with their record labels, I'd
have to say that this post is mostly true in the sense that VCs and record
labels are comparable... but it's way over-generalized.

There _are_ some record labels out there who really do care about their
artists and do everything they can to help without tossing moral and ethical
standards out the window. I know this for a fact. As for Victory, if you know
about the label, well... they're not exactly known for their kindness and
would probably fall into the blog entry's generalization, but I believe they
are getting better about it.

It isn't nearly as black and white as Jacques is making it seem.

