Yeah, no, most VCs still don’t really care about your path to profitability

“Growth at all costs” was fuel to 2021’s funding fire as venture capitalists poured money into startups spending oodles of cash on everything from overhiring to inefficient customer acquisition. But amid this year’s downturn, venture capitalists decided — to say, at least — that torching cash in the name of growth maybe wasn’t their best idea.

They put out memos, tweeted about it, and spent time telling reporters that maybe they goofed on some of their riskier bets. They said cash preservation and a potential path to profitability was the soup du jour of investing in Q2, while taking big risky bets on cash-burning, fast-growing startups was off the menu. But did their actions align with their words? Not really.