Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey details the company's first venture capital fundraising round in the late 1980s.
Insight
Mackey: VCs are hitchhikers who will hijack the car if crossed
“Venture capitalists are like hitchhikers, hitchhikers with credit cards. And as long as you take them to where they want to go, they will help you pay for the gas. But if you don't take them where they want to go, they will try to hijack the car, and they will…”
Insight
Mackey Compares VCs to Hitchhikers With Credit Cards Who Hijack Cars
“Venture capitalists are like hitchhikers, hitchhikers with credit cards. And as long as you take them to where they want to go, they will help you pay for the gas. But if you don't take them where they want to go, they will try to hijack the car, and they will…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mackey: Animal rights activists' accusations against Whole Foods were fundamentally correct
“That the accusations that the animal rights people had made about what we were doing were fundamentally correct.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Whole Foods Went Public in 1992 to Prevent VCs Taking Control
“Yeah, but venture capitalists didn't want us to go public. They wanted us to do another round of venture financing, but I was determined not to do another round of venture financing because that would have given them control of the company, and I just didn't t…”
Opinion
Mackey Calls Modern Startup Valuations Ridiculous Compared to Late 1980s
“It was, it's ridiculous the kind of valuations people get today compared to what we could get back in the late 19 eighties.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mackey: Whole Foods created much of US demand for organic food
“I mean, we didn't do it by ourselves, obviously, but because you have farmers, but we created much of the demand for natural and organic in the United States.”