--- title: VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer... description: An argument that venture capital has transformed into what the author calls 'Cancer Capital' — a small handful of billionaire-controlled mega-funds that have... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital | daily.dev og:description: An argument that venture capital has transformed into what the author calls 'Cancer Capital' — a small handful of billionaire-controlled mega-funds that have... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/W7PRLa0GX.png og:image:alt: VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital **[Anil Dash](https://daily.dev/sources/anildash)** · 7 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An argument that venture capital has transformed into what the author calls 'Cancer Capital' — a small handful of billionaire-controlled mega-funds that have restructured themselves outside traditional VC regulations to become unaccountable to markets, founders, or voters. The author, a former startup CEO with firsthand VC fundraising experience, traces this to firms like Andreessen Horowitz abandoning legal VC status to combine private equity and VC, avoid risk exposure while collecting massive management fees, and pour record political donations ($115.3 million this midterm cycle, more than any other billionaire donor) into shaping AI and tech policy. The piece frames this as a shift from funding innovation to consolidating political and economic power, citing a16z's hiring of a controversial partner and a former partner's public criticism of the firm's political influence. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [VCs deploy ‘kingmaking’ strategy to crown AI winners in their infancy](https://daily.dev/posts/vcs-deploy-kingmaking-strategy-to-crown-ai-winners-in-their-infancy-tt1iohni7) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why venture capital is shifting from software to deep tech](https://daily.dev/posts/why-venture-capital-is-shifting-from-software-to-deep-tech-kxn8j7xux) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [With AI, investor loyalty is \(almost\) dead: at least a dozen OpenAI VCs now also back Anthropic](https://daily.dev/posts/with-ai-investor-loyalty-is-almost-dead-at-least-a-dozen-openai-vcs-now-also-back-anthropic-4qnkinnll) · TechCrunch · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Silicon Valley startups: being evil, again and again](https://daily.dev/posts/silicon-valley-startups-being-evil-again-and-again-8upd8wksn) · Hacker News · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [VCs abandon old rules for a ‘funky time’ of investing in AI startups](https://daily.dev/posts/vcs-abandon-old-rules-for-a-funky-time-of-investing-in-ai-startups-6fi6yoz1k) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#startup](https://daily.dev/tags/startup), [#venture-capital](https://daily.dev/tags/venture-capital) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx"},"datePublished":"2026-09-02T21:37:10.281Z","dateModified":"2026-09-02T23:26:06.634Z","description":"An argument that venture capital has transformed into what the author calls 'Cancer Capital' — a small handful of billionaire-controlled mega-funds that have...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1a86337a784b1178b85a2f26e8f50816?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1a86337a784b1178b85a2f26e8f50816?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Anil Dash","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Anil Dash","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--WXp3YspL--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774960040/logos/anildash?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/anildash"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/vc-isn-t-vc-anymore-understanding-the-rise-of-cancer-capital-w7prla0gx","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"startup,venture-capital","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anil Dash","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/anildash"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"VC isn’t VC anymore — understanding the rise of Cancer Capital"}]} ```