Viral X thread shares the wildest VC horror stories

A founder pitching a $15 million Series A said one GP slept through 30 minutes of the meeting while 12 people in the room carried on as if nothing were wrong. Greg Isenberg’s account, which set off the viral conversation, captured the bluntest version of a familiar startup rite: founders crossing the country to perform for investors who may barely be present. Isenberg said he kept presenting to “an unconscious man in a Herman Miller chair,” and that the whole scene was somehow treated as normal.

The thread quickly widened beyond one dozing partner. Zynga founder Mark Pincus described the moment as “weekend at bernies” meets Silicon Valley, while former WayUp founder Liz Wessel said one partner fell asleep during her Series A pitch and another “couldn’t stop scowling” before the firm sent a term sheet two hours after the investment committee meeting. Former a16z partner Arianna Simpson distilled the reaction into one line: “Are VCs ok?? Narcolepsy appears to be running rampant.” Other founders said the weirdness did not stop at sleep. One reported that an investor wanted a share of post-acquisition proceeds, and Travis Kalanick recounted following a VC to his car and continuing the pitch from the passenger seat as the investor tried to leave.

That flood of anecdotes echoed complaints that had surfaced long before the X thread. In a 2022 survey of 59 founders, more than 75% said they had faced arrogant VCs or been ghosted, and 39% reported discrimination. Respondents described late arrivals, no questions, and one VC who yawned eight times during a meeting. Another founder said the worst part of fundraising was continuing to pitch while a VC pretended to fall asleep, and one first-time founder summed up the dynamic as “a lack of respect for a founder’s time.” The same survey also recorded stories of funds dragging out paperwork for months before trying to renegotiate signed terms.

That is why the viral thread landed so hard. The stories are funny only until they reveal a pattern: founders are expected to absorb no-shows, sleep, ghosting and last-minute pressure as the price of admission, while investors face few consequences for treating them as disposable. The public naming-and-shaming is not just venting, it is exposing how often venture capital still runs on leverage, opacity and the assumption that founders will stay quiet to keep the process alive.