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A comment on How Goldman Sachs Became a Tech-Investing Powerhouse. Parent comment

Re:How Goldman Sachs Became a Tech-Investing Powerhouse by adventured on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @12:11PM (#9962596)
Many of the best VCs are easily distinguishable from Wall St bankers in another critical way: they're very competent when it comes to technology. Understanding it, seeing where it's going, and knowing where it has been. They also often have a very different background vs bankers: degrees in engineering and computer science.

See: Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Peter Thiel, Doug Leone, Vinod Khosla, Paul Graham, Bill Gurley, Jenny Lee, John Doerr, and countless other examples - these people get technology in a way your typical banker never will.

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Re:How Goldman Sachs Became a Tech-Investing Powerhouse by tptacek on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @12:23PM (#9962682)
That's certainly the mythology behind Valley venture capital, but we needn't stipulate that it's true for Patrick's argument to remain plausible.

Certainly, it seems like an extraordinarily implausible claim that VC in 1998 was better than it is now. I raised mid-7 figures, institutionally, in '99. VC in '99 was atrocious.

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Re:How Goldman Sachs Became a Tech-Investing Powerhouse by meatysnapper on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @12:47PM (#9962853)
"These people get technology in a way your typical banker never will".

I think that's very wrong. A lot of very clever, ambitious people go into high finance, and these people are perfectly capable of "getting it". They may not become expert programmers over night, but they are certainly capable of figuring out how an industry may look with a new startup on the scene.

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Re:How Goldman Sachs Became a Tech-Investing Powerhouse by rayiner on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @01:32PM (#9963168)
There VCs with operational experience are in the distinct minority. That said, your suit-wearing history major banker from Goldman is a pretty sharp guy and I think people around here underestimate how easily they can grok technology.
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