Paul GrahamVerified account

This is a good take. Medicine is something that should be ideal for governments to handle: massive free rider problem, perceived unfairness of charging too much, lots of relatively rare diseases where it's hard to make profit. Too bad our government isn't more functional...

But that's the point, Paul. There's what we want and what we (or advertisers) will pay for. VC knows how to accelerate this. How do we encourage smart people like yourself to the problem of building what we NEED but may not be profitable/grow fast enough for VC?

Making things people want instead of what they need is a problem with market economies, not VC specifically. It existed long before VC, and is just as prevalent in areas of the economy that VC doesn't touch, like small business.

The author has a good point - & is not saying VC has produced nothing useful. It is potentially the most productive force on the planet but is overly focused on consumer goods as that's where the return is. We build rockets to Mars when poverty & sickness still exist.

Rockets to Mars are consumer goods?

I don't think her article contradicts this point. It is a valid concern that long term high risk projects have difficulty getting funded. May be she should be less dismissive of the tech stuff VC backed companies build. But her wider point stands.