Comment by iowai | Hacker News Reader

Comment by iowai | Hacker News Reader

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I once was an intern in a venture capital funded startup where the CEO decided to hold most of the companies cash in Bitcoin. I think it was in early 2014 or so, when the price fell like mad and he was in deep shit. Im not sure if anybody up to that date knew about the Bitcoin investment. He was a nervous wreck. Close to suicide. For about a week, he brought a stuffed animal into the office every day. And carried it around wherever he went. He said it calms him down.

During that time, he crashed his $80,000 Mercedes SLK badly and broke up with his girlfriend.

When the price rose again, he sold it all. And made a profit! The company survived to this day. Last I heard is that he is invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies again.

Sorry, calling bs on this.

Your last four comments all start with "I once was an intern" - and my guess is that's why your alias is "I.o.w.a.i."

Did all this stuff really happen? And to you?

Because from your past comments, you were an intern in the "golden 90's" and in this scenario, in 2014.

Haha, great find :-)

They're all very good stories! Keep them coming, iowai.

Indeed - the stories are straight out of a Ben Mezrich book about silicon valley.

We've got a crashed Mercedes, a breakup, a bank account illegally held in bitcoin, skateboarding in the hallways, DJ parties in the office, prostitutes galore, and a 22 year old founder.

...and that's just the first four comments.

This kind of thing is what investor due diligence is for. This, along with guys like Madoff, would be easily uncovered with an asset test. Basically a phone call to the bank asking how much equity an account has, naturally with the approval of the entity being tested. Surprisingly few investors actually do this.

> Last I heard is that he is invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies again.

I'd have hoped that he'd at least have learned something from the first experience. High volatility can end either way.

Well that was an insane thing for him to do.

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