How Super Angel Chris Sacca Made Billions, Burned Bridges...
April 17, 2015 3:48 AM Subscribe
...And Crafted The Best Seed Portfolio Ever
But his track record is also flecked with broken friendships and hard feelings. While he keeps a relatively low media profile–this story marks the first time he’s cooperating for a major story–his big mouth, incessant name-dropping and blunt elbows cause eyes to roll. “He’s got a bit of a hero complex,” says a peer who knows him well. “He’s an amazing investor, but that’s not enough–he has to do this heroic stuff.” At Google he crashed every meeting he could and then wouldn’t shut up. Twitter eventually had to pass a rule, driven in part by Sacca, barring nonemployees from showing up at all-staff meetings. He and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, once close friends, now barely speak, despite Sacca’s major stake in the company.
Wow, did he really make all that selling seeds? I couldn't even sell enough of the things to win the damn go-kart when I was a little boy.
posted by indubitable at 4:10 AM on April 17, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 4:10 AM on April 17, 2015 [9 favorites]
I wish I had a hot tub the size of a city or town, large enough for a mayor :(
posted by oceanjesse at 4:12 AM on April 17, 2015
posted by oceanjesse at 4:12 AM on April 17, 2015
Sacca didn’t study business or engineering, doesn’t know how to program a computer, never started a company of his own or worked at a big venture firm. What he does is buddy up with well-chosen founders, console them when they’re down and cajole them when they’re wary of big risks.this isn't the way capitalism is supposed to work...
posted by ennui.bz at 4:51 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Are you sure? Cause it's always worked that way.
posted by umberto at 5:32 AM on April 17, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by umberto at 5:32 AM on April 17, 2015 [14 favorites]
this isn't the way capitalism is supposed to work...
According to people like Ayn Rand, who insist that the creators and inventors get screwed over by the lesser people who are jealous of them, not by capitalists. In the real world, capitalists aren't creating or inventing. They're acquiring and hoarding capital, hence the name.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:45 AM on April 17, 2015
According to people like Ayn Rand, who insist that the creators and inventors get screwed over by the lesser people who are jealous of them, not by capitalists. In the real world, capitalists aren't creating or inventing. They're acquiring and hoarding capital, hence the name.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:45 AM on April 17, 2015
For a moment I thought this article was about Super Chriss Angel, and I thought that was a terrifying idea.
posted by xingcat at 6:07 AM on April 17, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by xingcat at 6:07 AM on April 17, 2015 [9 favorites]
I'm sure it's all very sad-making, these Internet capitalists and their billions.
However, as a non-American, I look at the Internet I use for everything and everything is American. Google, Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, Facebook. Everything is made in China, but everything running on it is American. OK, we've got ARM. Just like Finland had Nokia...
Maybe this is poor investment, and all these Internet companies will be irrelevant in two decades. But as it stands, your capitalist system appears to be letting you rule the world. Cash flows towards your Internet companies, stopping occasionally to rest in a tax haven against a rainy day.
Seems worth a few young billionaires to me.
posted by alasdair at 6:31 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
However, as a non-American, I look at the Internet I use for everything and everything is American. Google, Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, Facebook. Everything is made in China, but everything running on it is American. OK, we've got ARM. Just like Finland had Nokia...
Maybe this is poor investment, and all these Internet companies will be irrelevant in two decades. But as it stands, your capitalist system appears to be letting you rule the world. Cash flows towards your Internet companies, stopping occasionally to rest in a tax haven against a rainy day.
Seems worth a few young billionaires to me.
posted by alasdair at 6:31 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
The quote that interested me was,
I am trying to wrap my head around the article, which is, what is the purpose? I now know about Sacca and that because he cares so much, he burns bridges. And also, location, location, Rolodex, location, Rolodex, hot tub! I assume that this is an aspirational article since it seems to convey the following narrative:
posted by jadepearl at 6:32 AM on April 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
“Google then was a culture that rewarded people who got things done,” says Susan Wojcicki, a longtime Google executive who is now the CEO of YouTube.Which implies that Google is no longer a place that rewards people who get things done.
I am trying to wrap my head around the article, which is, what is the purpose? I now know about Sacca and that because he cares so much, he burns bridges. And also, location, location, Rolodex, location, Rolodex, hot tub! I assume that this is an aspirational article since it seems to convey the following narrative:
- wealth number -- establishment of monetary authority
- humble middle-class background from academic and lawyer
- no engineering or tech background
- ok, law school, not Harvard, Yale, Stanford or Cal
- bold, brash and sharp-elbowed BUT very enthusiastic
- examples of cool enthusiasm and BTW a FAMILY man
- examples of lucre e.g., multiple houses, world travel and wealth number reinforcement
- what is the next wealth adventure? Not a mic drop but a gentle apotheosis
- subtle theme of "wow, look at this guy" and more subtle implication of it "why not you?"
posted by jadepearl at 6:32 AM on April 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
what is the purpose?
Whassamatta, fellating billionaires isn't purpose enough?
posted by fatbird at 6:55 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Whassamatta, fellating billionaires isn't purpose enough?
posted by fatbird at 6:55 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
the thing that surprised me in the article was the soundbite from Ed Norton (yes, that Ed Norton), who's apparently a very quiet, progressive guy in terms of public persona. This article reeks of everything obnoxious about VC and valley culture and its very macho cults of personality, which I wouldn't have imagined would fit in well with the set of rich celebrities who do real charity work with their millions.
posted by fatbird at 7:11 AM on April 17, 2015
posted by fatbird at 7:11 AM on April 17, 2015
Chris is a friend of mine. He hasn't done a lot of press; I thought Forbes did a good job with this profile. I second the recommendation of the Startup Podcast. The very first episode has a lot of Sacca and is also particularly good. He's also quite active on Twitter; lately he's been doing a thing on Periscope where he reviews the daily stock reports with his adorable preschool-aged daughters.
If you want to know where he buys his shirts he says it's from Vintage Western Wear. Unfortunately his claim to the style is pretty well staked, no one else in the tech startup community could possibly wear one.
posted by Nelson at 7:12 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you want to know where he buys his shirts he says it's from Vintage Western Wear. Unfortunately his claim to the style is pretty well staked, no one else in the tech startup community could possibly wear one.
posted by Nelson at 7:12 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nelson, from your perspective, this type of article is not the result of a PR person? Not focusing on Sacca, in particular, but the type of article itself.
posted by jadepearl at 7:30 AM on April 17, 2015
posted by jadepearl at 7:30 AM on April 17, 2015
Through 2009 Sacca continued to make savvy individual investments in companies like Kickstarter, Twilio and Lookout, until he started running out of cash.the take away from this article is that if you have access to court gossip, some capital and a willingness to take big risks, you can win by betting big on "black." There's some bizzaro-world Sacca out there who put big bets on green energy in 2009 and is now back cold-calling for lawyer gigs, after a margin call liquidated his house.
Chris is a friend of mine.
this is kind of what keeps me on metafilter. the idea that these people are real and have friends and i can sort of interact with them. although, honestly, there isn't much moral, political, or even cultural common ground. in the end, i hope my grandchildren will have the power to guillotine his grandchildren, if not him.
posted by ennui.bz at 7:46 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
This viral marketing effort for Ex Machina is insane.
posted by boo_radley at 7:50 AM on April 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by boo_radley at 7:50 AM on April 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
jadepearl: I'm not sure what you mean by "result of a PR person". It's an article in Forbes with Sacca's participation, so clearly it's going to end up a bit of personal myth-making. That's Forbes Magazine's entire thing, it's not a critical media outlet like Jacobin or Model View Culture. OTOH it's not a puff piece, there's plenty of more subtle stuff in the article. I've not seen the bad relationship with Uber documented anywhere else, for instance. It's also worth noting how many sources Konrad got quoted on the record for the article, he did some real legwork.
ennui.biz: I suspect half the tech folks in California are friends with Sacca the way I am. He's a remarkably good networker. Your rhetorical excess of wishing murder on his grandchildren is awfully sophomoric though. You may want to consider in particular whether The Terror is the model of social justice you really hope for your grandchildren.
posted by Nelson at 8:03 AM on April 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
ennui.biz: I suspect half the tech folks in California are friends with Sacca the way I am. He's a remarkably good networker. Your rhetorical excess of wishing murder on his grandchildren is awfully sophomoric though. You may want to consider in particular whether The Terror is the model of social justice you really hope for your grandchildren.
posted by Nelson at 8:03 AM on April 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
He doesn't make the most interesting subject. It's a bit like profiles in house flipping. “2007 was so amazing, I can only imagine what 2008 will bring!”
posted by migurski at 8:09 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by migurski at 8:09 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Question: are these type of articles commissioned by the subject and their marketing team?
I wish Forbes actually had to be paid for its hagiographies of the Heroes of Capitalism, but sadly that's a service it performs in response to market demand. Ideology is a marvelous thing!
posted by RogerB at 8:11 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wish Forbes actually had to be paid for its hagiographies of the Heroes of Capitalism, but sadly that's a service it performs in response to market demand. Ideology is a marvelous thing!
posted by RogerB at 8:11 AM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
"why not you?"
I have read quite a few pieces/books by and about rich people, and I have come to the following answers to that question, re: me.
1.) I am not a completely unselfconcious asshole (I am quite selfconscious about it).
2.) I am not usually willing to straight up lie and/or use people to get what I want.
3.) I have never been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:17 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
I have read quite a few pieces/books by and about rich people, and I have come to the following answers to that question, re: me.
1.) I am not a completely unselfconcious asshole (I am quite selfconscious about it).
2.) I am not usually willing to straight up lie and/or use people to get what I want.
3.) I have never been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:17 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sacca met InVenture CEO Shivani Siroya at a TED dinner when he spotted Siroya sitting by herself on the fringe. Hours later he was sold on the former financial consultant and UN analyst’s vision for a new way to score credit in the developing world. “
Once I determined she wasn’t allergic to money, it was a no-brainer,” Sacca says. Sacca greets Ted Rheingold, the COO he helped match with Siroya, and the other staff like old friends as each discusses the group’s progress.
Six months ago these meetings were depressing. InVenture’s business wasn’t working in India, and since it didn’t handle the loans itself, the payback wasn’t there. Now it’s growing rapidly in Kenya, and the team shows Sacca detailed breakdowns of how Kenyans’ spending varies in different neighborhoods and what they take loans for and why. Their repayment rates, Siroya tells him, are higher than those for loans in the U.S. “How much more fun is this?”
I'm not 100% anti-VC like some here, and this could be a fine, non-predatory company, but boy o boy. This doesn't look right.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:32 AM on April 17, 2015
Once I determined she wasn’t allergic to money, it was a no-brainer,” Sacca says. Sacca greets Ted Rheingold, the COO he helped match with Siroya, and the other staff like old friends as each discusses the group’s progress.
Six months ago these meetings were depressing. InVenture’s business wasn’t working in India, and since it didn’t handle the loans itself, the payback wasn’t there. Now it’s growing rapidly in Kenya, and the team shows Sacca detailed breakdowns of how Kenyans’ spending varies in different neighborhoods and what they take loans for and why. Their repayment rates, Siroya tells him, are higher than those for loans in the U.S. “How much more fun is this?”
I'm not 100% anti-VC like some here, and this could be a fine, non-predatory company, but boy o boy. This doesn't look right.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:32 AM on April 17, 2015
Looks like Inventure is at least a B-corp, and has some altruistic goals. Seems a tad weird that a VC fund would be so gleeful about making huge profits off it but still, not necessarily pure predation. It's not like the World Bank has the cleanest track record of success in this field either.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:48 AM on April 17, 2015
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:48 AM on April 17, 2015
Ah, the story of a white male who, born into a life of privilege and connections, managed to rise above his own humble beginnings to become an ultra-wealthy investor. Truly, an inspiration to us all.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:12 AM on April 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 10:12 AM on April 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
"A group of San Francisco entrepreneurs and investors would often soak for hours in Sacca’s hot tub at the Truckee house"
This is undoubtedly one of the creepiest sentences I've read in 2015. Just the thought of this makes me feel nauseated, and my skin crawl.
But, then again, it's thoughtful of The Rich to tenderize themselves so thoroughly before the impending feast.
posted by still bill at 10:54 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is undoubtedly one of the creepiest sentences I've read in 2015. Just the thought of this makes me feel nauseated, and my skin crawl.
But, then again, it's thoughtful of The Rich to tenderize themselves so thoroughly before the impending feast.
posted by still bill at 10:54 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Your rhetorical excess of wishing murder on his grandchildren is awfully sophomoric though. You may want to consider in particular whether The Terror is the model of social justice you really hope for your grandchildren.
Consider that maybe The Terror is not a model of social justice desired by the commenter, but instead is one possible undesirable consequence of unconstrained power exerted without conscience.
posted by dglynn at 12:14 PM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Consider that maybe The Terror is not a model of social justice desired by the commenter, but instead is one possible undesirable consequence of unconstrained power exerted without conscience.
posted by dglynn at 12:14 PM on April 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I am more concerned with the rhetorical structure and stance of this type of article, not necessarily with the particular person. No need for pitchforks. The advent of the advertorial makes me read articles with a critical stance and I had wondered whether this kind of article was placed so, thanks Nelson for clarifying that this is not a tailored PR feed.
posted by jadepearl at 2:40 PM on April 17, 2015
posted by jadepearl at 2:40 PM on April 17, 2015
Consider that maybe The Terror is not a model of social justice desired by the commenter, but instead is one possible undesirable consequence of unconstrained power exerted without conscience.
Perhaps qualification suffered in the haste to make reference to decapitations?
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:53 PM on April 17, 2015
Perhaps qualification suffered in the haste to make reference to decapitations?
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:53 PM on April 17, 2015
Consider that maybe The Terror is not a model of social justice desired by the commenter, but instead is one possible undesirable consequence of unconstrained power exerted without conscience.
Might want to reread ennui.bz's comment again:
...i hope my grandchildren will have the power to guillotine his grandchildren..
posted by sideshow at 5:45 PM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Might want to reread ennui.bz's comment again:
...i hope my grandchildren will have the power to guillotine his grandchildren..
posted by sideshow at 5:45 PM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
in the end, i hope my grandchildren will have the power to guillotine his grandchildren, if not him.
That's completely hilarious, because what will actually happen is that your children will probably starve to death in late middle age, while your grandchildren will spend most of their short lives trying to avoid the Silver Rain (which as you may recall is the slang term for hunter-killer nanoswarms in that era).
Meanwhile, his grandchildren will be having sex with custom-built biotoys on their private orbiting pleasuredome.
posted by aramaic at 6:30 PM on April 17, 2015
That's completely hilarious, because what will actually happen is that your children will probably starve to death in late middle age, while your grandchildren will spend most of their short lives trying to avoid the Silver Rain (which as you may recall is the slang term for hunter-killer nanoswarms in that era).
Meanwhile, his grandchildren will be having sex with custom-built biotoys on their private orbiting pleasuredome.
posted by aramaic at 6:30 PM on April 17, 2015
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posted by selfnoise at 4:06 AM on April 17, 2015 [3 favorites]