Capital And You (Part One)

This is post is the first in a five part series on Capital, and You.
It’s written for people who turn data into product and who may have some questions about why they’re seeing what they’re seeing and why they’re feeling what they’re feeling at a startup.

The first post explains what is Capital. The second post attempts to explains the relationship between Capital and the Venture Capitalist. The third post explains the relationship between the Board and the Venture Capitalist. The fourth post expands the relationship between the Board and the Founder. And fifth post expands on the relationship between Capital and the Citizen.

Capital And You: What Is Capital

Capital is potential power. In order for capital to make an impact on the world, it has to be put to work. Capital that isn’t used is just like the potential energy in a battery. A battery needs to be connected to something to power something. On it’s own, it’s simply a battery.

People generally desire to change their environments. Their motivations and theses are as different as the beliefs of people themselves. The relationship between the citizenry and the way capital is accumulated and discharged varies across countries and societies. In liberal-democratic societies, there is a general attempt, sometimes half-hearted, to manage the relationship between those who have a lot of capital, and those who have a lot of political power.

In general, it’s easier to accumulate more capital when you start off with a lot of capital. The question about whether or not this creates a race-condition that crashes the software of the society is at the core of what drives a lot of fear, and in turn, is driving our collective discussion in the Anglosphere and Francosphere.

For the purpose of this series, Capital is defined as potential power.