New York City’s venture capitalists may be familiar characters to the readers of Betabeat, but the rest of the world may not have any idea of what the men (and very few women) who bestow cargo-loads of cash on young businesses (and particularly tech startups) are like. After this week, however, you can bet a few of them now do, as Sunday night’s episode of HBO’s ‘Girls’ prominently featured a VC—and all of his material accouterments—trying to close on a night out on the town.
Marnie: “No, I think he’s hot. And what he does is so interesting.”
Jessa: “What is a venture capitalist? It sounds like some sort of explorer but that can’t be the case.”
A few things in the shows portrayal of the VC are of note:
For example, the fact that ‘Girls’ creator Lena Dunham has stated in interviews that many a character and story-line have been inspired by and drawn from personal experiences, either of her own or her friends’.
Another is that the show does archtypes—especially those pertaining to Brooklyn—particularly well.
For example, if you can’t say you don’t know anybody with money in the tech community who lives in Williamsburg, who buys ostensibly interesting modernist furniture (that’s really just whatever’s at the front of the closest CB2), who fancies themselves somewhat creative with creative hobbies to go with said self-designation, you may not be paying close enough attention. Also, are you surprised that the first VC character to have a significant plotline on a buzzed-over show is a man? You shouldn’t be.
And maybe you’ve heard stories about many a VC being an “asshole.” Or the inter-personal relations of certain VCs looking for love in all the wrong places. Maybe Lena Dunham has, too.
Either way, the character was part of a brilliant setup for one of the funniest moments in the show’s run so far. Even better was the small attention to detail, especially where the show’s writers’ ideas about how a VC would act in this situation are concerned.
We’ve annotated and transcribed some of the scenes for your viewing and reading pleasure, up above. How right are they about this type of person? And even more:
Is it anybody in particular that they’re right about?
We’ll let you be the judge.*
[*Unless, of course, you know anybody who may reflect this character. In which case, shout.]
fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek
