After my first startup failed (didn't get PM fit) I got a bit obsessed with how to do good market research for innovation. Discovery interviews, JTBD, etc.

During my journey I took a beat and pointed my new skills at VCs. I interviewed a few dozen VCs trying to understand what they were trying to get done and what mattered to them, but with a bit of a bias trying to gauge whether they wanted to better predict market demand of their portfolio or prospective investments' products.

What I learned shocked me a bit. The sense I got was that they didn't really care about market demand or building a strong business, they mostly cared if the founder could sell the company up to food chain (series a, b, c etc).

Roughly speaking: "I don't care what value my portfolio companies create, I care about marking up my book so I can increase my take".

I don't know how much this had to do with ZIRP, but it really soured me to the VC industry. I've been committed to bootstrapping my companies ever since.