Ask HN: Do VC's care about the ethical behavior of the companies they fund?
4 comments
> Context: I am wondering if I should contact a VC firm about an ethics/business issue I am having with a company they fund.
What would they care? Unless it actively and massively damages the business (i.e. potential loss of investment), I'd imagine they couldn't care less. Maximizing their investment is all a VC cares about.
A lawsuit related to the brand name of a company, however, probably could limit their acquisition chances. So try to sell to them, instead of litigating. Even if you win, they might run out of money before you get your attorney fees compensated, and you could be out of pocket a lot of $$.
What would they care? Unless it actively and massively damages the business (i.e. potential loss of investment), I'd imagine they couldn't care less. Maximizing their investment is all a VC cares about.
A lawsuit related to the brand name of a company, however, probably could limit their acquisition chances. So try to sell to them, instead of litigating. Even if you win, they might run out of money before you get your attorney fees compensated, and you could be out of pocket a lot of $$.
My random advice from the internet:
In the context of the other recent thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12011012 This course of action should run by a lawyer.
Overall, framing this as a purely business matter rather than one of morals/ethics/justice might be useful. My intuition is that there is money set aside to purchase the domain and a timeline for acquiring it. If there are millions of dollars for a law suit with uncertain outcomes, there is even more for a certain quick outcome.
Anyway, there's nothing to be gained by treating matters as personal or evil regardless of what they might be.
Good luck.
In the context of the other recent thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12011012 This course of action should run by a lawyer.
Overall, framing this as a purely business matter rather than one of morals/ethics/justice might be useful. My intuition is that there is money set aside to purchase the domain and a timeline for acquiring it. If there are millions of dollars for a law suit with uncertain outcomes, there is even more for a certain quick outcome.
Anyway, there's nothing to be gained by treating matters as personal or evil regardless of what they might be.
Good luck.
Yes, you are right. Ultimately it's just business.
The research I've done tells me it would be hard to grab my domain given that I've been doing business under this brand for nearly 30 years. Not a huge business, but that's not important.
This doesn't mean that they can't make me spend money on lawyers and just burn me down to the ground as a potentially cheaper strategy to make me cave. Not sure what to think about this possibility.
The research I've done tells me it would be hard to grab my domain given that I've been doing business under this brand for nearly 30 years. Not a huge business, but that's not important.
This doesn't mean that they can't make me spend money on lawyers and just burn me down to the ground as a potentially cheaper strategy to make me cave. Not sure what to think about this possibility.
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If you can generate enough bad publicity for them, they will.
Context: I am wondering if I should contact a VC firm about an ethics/business issue I am having with a company they fund.