May the Arrogant Not Flourish: Pride and Ego Still Kills

This was the name of the street in the ancient capital Babylon where rulers and visitors had to ride through to the center of the grand city. A reminder to stay humble. 

Just like in Ancient Roman times when their generals celebrated grand victories in war with a chariot ride in front of the populace, surrounded by pomp and circumstance. Yet beside them in their chariot was a slave that whispered to them continuously “Momento Mori: remember you are mortal.” A reminder that glory is fleeting. 

I feel like I have to write a similar kind of blog post every few months here in Silicon Valley. And it’s especially bizarre when we have gone through a comeuppance that started last year in 2022. 

Startup founders in denial and acting like it’s 2021 where the cash is flowing. VCs pontificating and lecturing like they saw all this coming. Or like they weren’t co-conspirators aiding and abetting the founders' spendthrift “grow at all costs” strategy. 

We all got fat, lazy and dumb from greed. I admit that. Standards slipped and we made some stupid investments in teams and businesses that should not have been funded. I’m still kicking myself on a few deals I did in 2021. Ones that I never would have done in ordinary times. I am still kicking myself for this. But live and learn. 

Now it’s payback time. The inevitable house cleaning and taking of the pain. Those who admit the truth, take the medicine and blame, and focus on getting their hands dirty to fix the problems, will be fine. That means taking the write downs in your portfolio ASAP! 

Those who try to blissfully ignore this or hope this turns around soon without taking hard action deserve the inevitable shellacking. This is a reminder to Accept reality and Crush your  ego. As the Bible states in proverb 16:18: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”