This is probably a good reminder. But you could write an article like this about every institution:
- The police aren't your friends
- Your employer isn't your friend
- Your colleagues aren't your friends
- The government isn't your friend
- Small businesses aren't your friends
- Big corporations aren't your friends
- Elon Musk isn't your friend
- Your landlord isn't your friend
- Your professors aren't your friends
There's no such thing as a relationship where the interests of both parties are perfectly aligned. And the pain caused by any misalignment will be more intense when the stakes are higher, such as startups/VC.
The article is useful because, while most of your other examples don’t pretend to be your friends, VCs often do, at least at a superficial level. Understanding that this seeming friendship isn’t real is important.
VCs do have a helpful role to play in funding many types of startups, but the role of investor is very different from the role of friend.
- The police aren't your friends
- Your employer isn't your friend
- Your colleagues aren't your friends
- The government isn't your friend
- Small businesses aren't your friends
- Big corporations aren't your friends
- Elon Musk isn't your friend
- Your landlord isn't your friend
- Your professors aren't your friends
There's no such thing as a relationship where the interests of both parties are perfectly aligned. And the pain caused by any misalignment will be more intense when the stakes are higher, such as startups/VC.