More Start-Ups Have an Unfamiliar Message for Venture Capitalists: Get Lost

Summary

Frustrated with the perverse incentives of fast growth, founders are criticizing the investment model that built the tech industry as we know it.

On a sunny Saturday morning in New York a few months ago, a group of 50 start-up founders gathered in the dank basement of a Lower East Side bar. They scribbled notes at long tables, sipping coffee and LaCroix while a stack of pizza boxes emanated the odor of hot garlic. One by one, they gave testimonials taking aim at something nearly sacred in the technology industry: venture capital.