Six Degrees
There’s a theory/urban legend that everyone is just six degrees of separation from knowing every other person on the planet. I prefer the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon theory that every actor is six degrees (or less) removed from working with Kevin Bacon. For example, Sean Connery is two degrees from Kevin Bacon. Connery was in The Untouchables with Robert DeNiro who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon. We can play the same game of telephone with investment ideas, but this can play out like making a copy of a copy. Theranos, the Silicon Valley startup that set out to disrupt blood-testing, became a media darling under the assumption that everyone else had done the due diligence. The company got its start by raising money from the CEO’s daddy’s friends. Further fundraising rounds were based on the assumption that the investors in the previous round did their due diligence. The media…
