Dumb and Dumber

When will Tim Walz take Kamala’s advice?

We lost count of the dumb things Donald Trump says back in, let’s see, about 2016, although he didn’t really peak until 2020, when he suggested that light and bleach could be used to fight Covid-19.

Now we have Gov. Tim Walz giving Trump a run for his money.

First there was the story about using a gun in combat. Oops. Then he regaled us with his eyewitness account of the Tiananmen Square uprising. Aren’t Beijing and Hong Kong right next to each other?

We won’t mention the shotgun episode, only because he didn’t actually say anything, although actions do often speak louder than words.

His malaprops prompted an admonishment from his boss. “Stop saying dumb things,” Kamala advised him. She speaks from experience.

Now comes Tim again, this time at a campaign stop in Volant, PA where he said this: “(JD Vance) is a venture capitalist cosplaying like he’s a cowboy or somethin’. I don’t even know what a venture capitalist does most of the time.”

Governor, your boss wants another word with you.

Maybe you forgot that part of your campaign platform is helping to increase business startups. This, sir, requires money. The job of a venture capitalist is to assess the potential of startups and, if they like what they see, invest money that will help the business grow. Are you with me so far?

Let’s get concrete. Here are a few businesses that started small but got very big thanks to venture capital.

Amazon: Jeff Bezos relied on venture capital to fund the early stages of Amazon. The company’s first outside investment came from Kleiner Perkins in 1995, which helped Amazon grow into the e-commerce and tech giant it is today.

Google: Google secured early-stage VC funding in 1999 from Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, which invested a combined $25 million. These funds were crucial in scaling the search engine and expanding its services.

Facebook (Meta): Facebook received its first major venture capital investment from Accel Partners in 2005, which invested $12.7 million.

Apple: The two Steves (Jobs and Wozniak) invested their life savings into the company, but also received $250,000 in venture capital funding from Mike Markkula, an early investor who helped guide the company to success.

Today, Governor, the venture capital industry is a key part of the global financial ecosystem, particularly in funding early-stage, high-growth startups. In 2022, global venture capital investments totaled around $445 billion.

Venture capital provides unique and powerful benefits for startup companies.

Funding for Growth: VC provides startups with the capital needed to grow quickly, scale operations, and develop products.

Access to Expertise: Beyond financial support, VCs often provide mentorship, strategic guidance, and business expertise, helping entrepreneurs navigate growth challenges, refine their business models, and make key decisions.

Network and Resources: VCs have extensive networks in industries, markets, and even among other investors. Startups gain access to valuable partnerships, customers, and future funding opportunities.

Risk Mitigation: For entrepreneurs, VC funding helps spread the financial risk by bringing in outside investors. In return for a stake in the company, VCs assume a share of the risk and allow the founders to focus on scaling.

So, to summarize, Governor, here’s what VCs do, to answer the question you posed in Volant, PA.

VCs take risks. They look for opportunity and put money behind it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say in Minnesota. What was it that your boss said about building an “opportunity economy?”

VCs catalyze capital formation. When a startup secures venture capital, it often signals to the market that the business is promising, which can attract additional investors and partners.

VCs are a central cog in the innovation ecosystem, which makes America stronger and wealthier.

Beyond that, we don’t really need to care what VCs do. If they want to cosplay, I’m fine with that. If they want to dabble in politics, well, it’s a free country, as they say.

So, I get it. When you’re in Volta courting the blue-collar male vote, you probably want to be dismissive of elites like VCs. With your lumberjack jacket and your baseball cap it shows you’re “one of us.”

But you also have a responsibility to speak the truth and educate voters, not perpetuate stereotypes or business illiteracy. And you have a responsibility to not say dumb things.

By the way, what does a Vice President do, anyway?

Good luck on Nov. 5.