Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 16, 2026
by Neil Senturia
Venture capitalists come in all sizes and flavors, so damning with a broad brush is unreasonable and inaccurate. Even if you don’t like licorice ice cream, some folks swear by it.
Allow me to lay down the gauntlet for all founder/entrepreneurs who are in the arena. Here is a quote from Gigi Levy-Weiss, a partner at NFX, one of my most admired venture firms, from an article he wrote in February:
“But the most honest thing we can say is that the most exciting companies of this era have not been built yet. The category-defining products — the ones that will look obvious in hindsight — are still in the minds of founders who haven’t launched yet, or who are a single insight away from seeing something others do not. … This is where the most important companies get built. Not by people waiting for clarity, but by people willing to remake reality from opportunity.”
I find these quotes thrilling and terrifying. One of the most impactful words is “hindsight.” Yeah, we all know 20-20, but obvious isn’t always, and even if I had eyes in the back of my head, I probably would have tripped rather than seen the inventions of the past decade. What Levy-Weiss is really saying is that the game is still in the first inning. In fact, he argues the game has not yet even begun, and the shape of the ball and the rules are still to be written. It is a good time to be an entrepreneur.
Unless the game is rigged.
OK, so I am a fan of NFX, but let’s take a closer look at another big boy in the Valley, Sequoia Capital, which currently has approximately $55 billion under management. Sequoia is powerful, famous and important in the venture ecosystem.
In December, Sequoia closed a private deal with an AI startup, Serval, at a valuation of just under $400 million. Days later, Serval announced a new milestone from another funding round, this time at a valuation of $1 billion, thus giving it the coveted status of a “unicorn.” An increase of $600 million in a matter of a few days suggests either a magic trick or a bit of financial engineering.
Aaru, founded in March 2024, got a $1 billion headline valuation through a deal with multiple investment tiers. Half bought at one price, and the other group bought at double.
Pause, folks. Yes, dealing “seconds” is legal. It just depends on who’s dealing, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal written by Angel Au-Young.
The reason I highlight this is that the founder/entrepreneur wants to believe that if he enters the game, it is a level playing field and the rules are pretty clear — maybe not written in stone, but for sure not in disappearing ink, and that the folks who own the stadium and the concession stands have not rigged the outcome.
Let me be even more clear and confessional. Silicon Valley is built on a network of relationships that do not exist in San Diego. I know we have startup events, and we invite junior nobodies from these firms to come down and kick the tires, but the hard truth is that most of us, myself included, and I have done deals and raised money from venture, do not truly know the secret handshake.
No amount of reaching north, no matter how well-intentioned, is going to change that paradigm any time soon. It is a club, and membership is bestowed only upon certain folks who live and operate in certain universities and communities and bring with them “star power” from other companies that came before them.
I am willing to play the game, I am willing to compete, but I am not a fool, and I know that the odds are stacked and that greed and ego and status and money rule the boardrooms.
Integrity is malleable and transactional — consider the following: Anthropic says no to the Pentagon on a Friday, and 12 hours later, OpenAI says yes. As Superman says, “Truth, justice and the American way.” You just have to count your fingers every time you shake hands with the devil.
Still, consider the words from NFX. The next generation of great companies has not yet been created. Someone will. Why not you?
Rule No. 821: “The Unfair Advantage,” title of theatrical performance by magician Harry Milas