Uber founder Travis Kalanick has renewed his criticism of venture capitalists, telling David Senra's podcast that only around 1% of VCs are genuinely "helpful" to founders and just 10% clear the low bar of "do no harm." His comments come as he raises fresh mega-funding for his robotics company, Atoms, highlighting the tension between founders' reliance on VC money and his generally dim view of investors' actual contribution once cheques are signed.

Kalanick, who raised roughly $15 billion in VC funding during his Uber tenure before being ousted in a 2017 boardroom battle involving Benchmark's Bill Gurley, said he still advises founders against raising from Benchmark, despite the firm recently closing $2 billion across two new funds. He likened founders to a "chess master" running the company day-to-day, with VCs as occasional "chess enthusiasts" checking in. Atoms has just secured $1.7 billion led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Ben Horowitz joining its board. Kalanick also urged founders to avoid a "victim mentality" about difficult investor relationships, reflecting that his own combative management style at Uber, while not rule-breaking, "ran too close to the line."