What is a good VC?
Everyone knows that most VCs are useless. But no one defines what a useful or good VC is, nor do they tell you how to determine the degree of goodness. We define the attributes of VC goodness, so you as a founder can identify a good VC to work with (or you as an aspiring VC can learn how to be better at your job).
The bar for a top-quartile venture capitalist is low. The bottom 75% are process LLMs who can't do anything but follow a "lead" while generating work by farming founders for multiple, free expert/consulting calls. Top-quartile is simply the inverse: the VC is decisive, has bank authorization to click “send money,” and is well-versed in the rules of the Silicon Valley game.
But the skill curve inflects exponentially from there. Ranking as an elite 1% VC is the most competitive and savage game in the world. Why? Well, what other game can someone play to collect a billion bucks while having a contributory front row seat next to the smartest, most ambitious entrepreneurs changing human civilization?
VC goodness can be determined by these 5 attributes:
1. Game
Capitalism is a game, and the objective function is to collect as many units of capital in as little time as possible without going to jail.
In every game, there are embedded artifacts and weird tricks of how to maximize gameplay that are opaque to novices. In the Silicon Valley game, these nuances relate to cap table construction, deal structure terms, the VC whisper network, and the interpersonal dynamics of the people who can make or break you. Knowing what to share, with whom, when and in what sequence is everything. Masterful gameplay requires high EQ.
Tidbits of momentum lead to demand; demand sequenced well creates scarcity; scarcity creates fomo; and this fomo attracts capital; capital then buys more momentum. The top founders and VCs have mastered the dark art of finessing this loop.
Remember: non-public (aka “insider”) information is by definition the only information available in the world of private startups. Marshaling as much asymmetric information advantage as possible is the alpha. The best VCs have a lot of info and will teach you the tricks of the game.
2. Insight
Each tech cycle has a few key concepts that are on trend. These concepts are the market opportunities that make the most money (IRR) in any given vintage. For example, in the 2010s, it was mobile apps and fintechs; in 2021, it was crypto; in 2025, it's AI. Soon, the New York Times will write histrionic pieces about the robot revolution. You have to know what these trends are, and if you’re really good, you help make the trend. If you’re reading about it on NYT, you’re a year (and forever) too late.
This is not about hypebeasting and chasing. Reading trends is serious business; knowing what trends are not only hot, but durable takes true intellectual breadth and technical depth. High raw IQ plus polymathic and encyclopedic learning abilities are required to clearly articulate the underlying technological and/or demographic shift that drive a trend. No technological and/or demographic shift, then call bullshit. In more direct terms, the skill of insight is the ability to be a wizard that can see the future.
Riding the flows of the frontiers requires being flow with the leading researchers and practitioners. Getting flow from as many legit people as possible is the grind it takes to distill your own perspective on what is real and what is not. Getting flow from other VCs (particularly the bottom 75%) is akin to the childhood telephone game where any signal is quickly muddied by incoherent noise of people badly regurgitating what they heard and pumping their own bag.
Being ubiquitous across the correct information flow is a 24/7 game. Those who get a bit too rich and a bit too lazy are very quickly left behind. I won’t name names, but many of the top GPs who gained notoriety 5-10 years ago are out; they can't keep up on the technicals, are no longer relevant, and just aren't tapped in. I’ll give you a hint: today’s best are tapped into the AI research community.
So your job is to ride with the right people pursuing the right trends at the right time. And knowing who the right people, right trends, and right time is all about how smart you are, how fast you can learn, and developing intellectual taste. The best VCs will help put you on trend (but you as a founder should already be there).
3. Speed
There’s infinite work to do. Be smart so you don’t generate a lot of work. Most good founders already have all data, preparation, and reputation already in place, so the elite investor should be able to quickly ingest all the info and decide quickly. And once you negotiate and commit, just wire money and close on time. The worst experience as a founder is when someone says they’re in and then they waffle around and ultimately whiff. The best founders just want to work on building the company, so speed and fidelity of close is very valuable. The best move fast fast fast. You as a founder should be moving fast, so choose VCs who are fast. Fast at investing; fast at helping.
4. Vibe
Every person has their own aesthetic. They might like sports or like anime. They might like rap or k-pop. They might dress in Loro Piana or exclusively startup merch. These are all shallow.
The core of a person is a personality bundle of values, principles, and aspirations. The best VC for you is one that matches your vibe, which is a synonym for culture-fit. When business gets tough, those shared values, principles, and aspirations are put to the test.
Most VCs are social climbing chameleons that morph their values to whatever they think the next hot trend is. If your startup checks all the boxes on a hot trend, the noob VCs will come spamming your inbox, slobbering for bits of juicy allocation. But when it inevitably gets hard, those easy-come VCs are the easy-go VCs.
The real ones are the ones that have your back and check your blindspots when it's hard. Playing the sycophantic yes-man can and actually does works pretty well, but that’s not for me. It is low aura. The best founders are hyper selective on their employees and company culture/vibe. Treat your VCs exactly the same.
5. Aura
Elite founders have aura. Elite VCs have aura. Aura x aura == mega aura. Mega aura == mega talent, mega product, and mega revenues. Mega talent, mega product, and mega revenues == everyone's a billionaire! Choose partners that amplify your aura.
VC goodness formula
If we aggregate the five variable attributes as defined above, the formula for vc goodness can be defined as follows:
VC goodness == game x insight x speed x vibe x aura
Founders: measure your VC against my formula. VCs: work on your stats against my five attributes. If this is helpful for you, you can thank me by inviting me to invest or co-invest in your best idea (antifund.com).
Inspired by a conversation with Trae Stephens, Markie Wagner, and Jake Paul