Mackey: VCs Wreck Good Businesses by Forcing Rapid Scaling
John Mackey · John Mackey: The Dropout Who Changed How America Eats · Jan 4, 2026 · at 11:21
Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey discusses venture capital incentives with David Senra.
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“The game VCs are playing is, is that it's kind of a blockbuster model. They're looking for exponential growth, and when they hit, when you get an Apple, or you get a Nvidia, or an Intuitive Surgical, or you get one of these Companies that just compound and compounds and compounds, you can get a hundred extra, your venture capital money, and that's what they're looking for. And so what ends up happening is they oftentimes take good businesses and try to scale them too rapidly because they're trying to get that exponential payoff.”
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