Venture capital trained us to see the startup world in two buckets: “lifestyle” versus “high growth.” That two-bucket model used to be helpful. Now it’s limiting. Not because VC is wrong, but because technology is changing the shape of what a “good company” looks like. The future isn’t only unicorns. It’s also upgraded “lifestyle” businesses that distribute cash, as AI makes software cheaper.

In venture capital, one phrase shows up in almost every partner meeting: “What’s our ownership?” For years, VCs have been trained to think that if you don’t own 10–20%, you’re not really in the deal. But is that always true? And in a world of larger rounds, competitive syndicates, secondaries, and multi-asset strategies… how much should a VC really care about ownership %?

There’s a lot written about the lifecycle of a startup, the lifecycle of a fund, even the lifecycle of a market. Almost nobody talks about the lifecycle of a VC’s ego.

This is my attempt to map that journey, not as a therapist, not as a guru, but as someone who has lived through most of these stages personally.