Well said. C.S. Lewis nailed this phenomenon in a Memorial Lecture at King’s College, University of London in 1944:
I believe that in all men’s lives at certain periods, and in many men’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside…
Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life, from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care. That will be the natural thing—the life that will come to you of its own accord. Any other kind of life, if you lead it, will be the result of conscious and continuous effort. If you do nothing about it, if you drift with the stream, you will in fact be an “inner ringer.” I don’t say you’ll be a successful one; that’s as may be. But whether by pining and moping outside Rings that you can never enter, or by passing triumphantly further and further in—one way or the other you will be that kind of man…
You discover gradually, in almost indefinable ways, that it exists and that you are outside it; and then later, perhaps, that you are inside it…But you have met the phenomenon of an Inner Ring…
And you will be drawn in, if you are drawn in, not by desire for gain or ease, but simply because at that moment, when the cup was so near your lips, you cannot bear to be thrust back again into the cold outer world. It would be so terrible to see the other man’s face—that genial, confidential, delightfully sophisticated face—turn suddenly cold and contemptuous, to know that you had been tried for the Inner Ring and rejected. And then, if you are drawn in, next week it will be something a little further from the rules, and next year something further still, but all in the jolliest, friendliest spirit. It may end in a crash, a scandal, and penal servitude; it may end in millions, a peerage and giving the prizes at your old school. But you will be a scoundrel…
The desire to be inside the invisible line illustrates this rule. As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left…
It's so weird that the founder-vc relationship is so toxic at the beginning.
It goes against all of the vc "we are founder first" jargon and only makes founders more skeptical of the value of a VC if they are not tier 1.
I'd also implore VCs that are not tier 1 to not follow this. You cant generate Alpha otherwise. You need to find the potential that is overlooked and actually make a high risk bet and do the work. Otherwise your just following the T1 VCs. Granted getting into those deals is a good sign for sure.
Well said. C.S. Lewis nailed this phenomenon in a Memorial Lecture at King’s College, University of London in 1944:
I believe that in all men’s lives at certain periods, and in many men’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside…
Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life, from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care. That will be the natural thing—the life that will come to you of its own accord. Any other kind of life, if you lead it, will be the result of conscious and continuous effort. If you do nothing about it, if you drift with the stream, you will in fact be an “inner ringer.” I don’t say you’ll be a successful one; that’s as may be. But whether by pining and moping outside Rings that you can never enter, or by passing triumphantly further and further in—one way or the other you will be that kind of man…
You discover gradually, in almost indefinable ways, that it exists and that you are outside it; and then later, perhaps, that you are inside it…But you have met the phenomenon of an Inner Ring…
And you will be drawn in, if you are drawn in, not by desire for gain or ease, but simply because at that moment, when the cup was so near your lips, you cannot bear to be thrust back again into the cold outer world. It would be so terrible to see the other man’s face—that genial, confidential, delightfully sophisticated face—turn suddenly cold and contemptuous, to know that you had been tried for the Inner Ring and rejected. And then, if you are drawn in, next week it will be something a little further from the rules, and next year something further still, but all in the jolliest, friendliest spirit. It may end in a crash, a scandal, and penal servitude; it may end in millions, a peerage and giving the prizes at your old school. But you will be a scoundrel…
The desire to be inside the invisible line illustrates this rule. As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left…
Exclusion is no accident; it is the essence.
Thanks for sharing. Its a weird power dynamic and worthy of reflection.
The hunter becomes the hunted becomes the hunter.
It's so weird that the founder-vc relationship is so toxic at the beginning.
It goes against all of the vc "we are founder first" jargon and only makes founders more skeptical of the value of a VC if they are not tier 1.
I'd also implore VCs that are not tier 1 to not follow this. You cant generate Alpha otherwise. You need to find the potential that is overlooked and actually make a high risk bet and do the work. Otherwise your just following the T1 VCs. Granted getting into those deals is a good sign for sure.
I received this as I'm writing "investment lessons from Groucho Marx" using the same quote but from an end-investor perspective.
Beware if you get invited to a club that shouldn't have you as a member.