Edit on 2020-12-02: This whole rigmarole rigma-rolled forward. Phew, did it ever. Currently it appears that Pasquale D'Silva was indeed involved, though not the main culprit of @VCBrags. Harassment allegations against D'Silva (which I was informed of privately when I first posted this, but couldn't publish at the time) came to light. Anyway, Jeremy Arnold painstakingly recapped further developments:

I'm sure Pasquale won't mind serving as a case study, given his glee at the association:
I’m HONORED / BLESSED that some of you Silicon Valley tech dweebs think that I was @vcbrags. To be honest, I’m so dumb about VC, half the jokes from the account flew over my head. Been an honor to lend a transparent png or voiceover now and then to fuck up the internet.
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) August 31, 2020
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Recently there was a kerfuffle on Tech Twitter, and later Clubhouse, about the dunk account @VCBrags. This proxy battle over social status pitted "techlash" cheerleaders against those of us who understand that neither ROI nor innovation grows on trees. (If you think picking winners is easy, I invite you to find some LPs and prove it.) Ultimately @VCBrags decided to shut down:
PSA pic.twitter.com/fzRhWxQkqH
— VCs Congratulating Themselves 👏👏👏 (@VCBrags) August 31, 2020
Why? I'll give you a taste:
i muted that account a long time ago. it was pointed at beginning, then just started trolling.
— 👨🏻💻☕️ (@hunterwalk) August 31, 2020
i have zero problem with punching at power. But it just wasn't smart any more.
that's my biggest criticism of whomever was behind it. i wouldn't trust their judgment of quality.
i shouldn't have looked in my lockout folder. i knew i shouldn't have.
— Tracy Chou (@triketora) August 15, 2020
at this point, my only interaction with the vc brags account is that it sends shitposters, haters, and trolls my way, which is why i blocked them in the first place. there's no escaping the toxicity pic.twitter.com/bB2DHAYS7Y
There was also this guy who was tweeting about his non-profit that got PPE into the right hands, and vcbrags treated it like some kind of brag, I guess, and the dude got internet mobbed for...starting a non-profit, which looked pretty demoralizing for him.
— Lee Edwards (@terronk) August 31, 2020
Some commentators derided the startup investment community as too thin-skinned to take a joke. First of all, how is "👏👏👏" your standard for jokes, yikes. Secondly, @VCBrags' gimmick would be considered textbook harassment if aimed at less fashionable targets.
That's the term for habitually taunting users who have blocked you, right? Are we changing the rules now and it's hunky-dory to repeatedly tweet imputed insults at women (and men) who clearly don't want to chat? Wait, I thought tech was supposed to be woke 🤔
I didn't establish these standards as mainstream, but I sure do notice when they're violated. And frankly @VCBrags' sense of humor was cruel. Here's the most recent tweet that I consider beyond-the-pale rude, honestly just plain mean:

That post isn't out of character, nor is it a new development. The point of @VCBrags has always been to shit on people for celebrating, or even simply expressing enthusiasm. I don't blame Hunter Walk for being unaware, since I doubt that he's read through the backlog, but @VCBrags never bothered to selectively skewer the inordinately pompous. Consider the three oldest tweets that I could unearth:


@VCBrags' consistent editorial thesis was that if you deploy capital and ever mention feeling good about something, you deserve to be mocked for it. Seriously:






Click or tap any screenshot to enlarge it.
As Susa Ventures partner Leo Polovets told Protocol in February, "I think it's good to celebrate wins — for investors and founders and everyone else — and calling out all celebrations instead of just cringey ones is depressing." He pointed out, "The events being celebrated are often the biggest wins in multiple people's careers, and it makes me sad that they're being called out and shamed for being happy and excited."
Polovets nailed it — impressive exits earned particular attention from @VCBrags. But I also found many examples of @VCBrags being a jerk for no apparent reason (although sheer ressentiment comes to mind). A few more:





Posts didn't need to be explicitly happy, although of course @VCBrags preferred joy-stomping when possible. Random offhand observations were also considered fair game:





The reason to write about this Twitter drama is pretty simple: Culture matters. As I've pointed out before, that's why everyone gets so worked up. It would be ludicrous to claim that conceptions of coolness don't have real-world effects; I can attest that my own street cred has been hugely advantageous, and I am by no means a big deal.
If we want to build the awesome future directly, we need to point out who is a pernicious influence, who focuses on tearing others down rather than building them up — especially if they amass clout by doing so, then use it to initiate a negativity flywheel. Personally I can excuse moderate and occasional bitchiness (including from myself), but not the devoted focus of @VCBrags.
And yes, there should be reputational consequences for this behavior. Nobody needs to be fired, I'm not advocating for that, but bad-faith critics of the tech industry and those who work in it should be identified and ignored. After all, we genuinely do want to grow and improve! Meekly accepting malice, versus insisting on constructive feedback, undermines that effort.
So let's talk about Pasquale, this story's enfant terrible. It may be a tad confusing if you didn't see the saga unfold on Twitter — I won't recap every detail, but you can get up to speed here:
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That post is mostly accurate. Intriguingly, however, Forbes editor Abram Brown reported that Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia "still maintains he does know @VCBrags' true identity but declined to comment further and did not fully reveal his suspicions in his Twitter post." I gotta wonder how thoroughly Brown conducted his research:

Independent writer Jeremy Arnold dug into @VCBrags' post history and concluded that Pasquale D'Silva, CEO of animation studio Thinko, was the culprit. (Worth noting: "I wouldn't have casually confirmed the man's identity if he hadn't effectively outed himself first via a parade of hints/winks." I agree with this stance.)

Sahil also said on Clubhouse — I listened live — that Pasquale was the person he had in mind. Earlier in that same conversation, infamously trollish investor Jason Calacanis withdrew the water-muddying claim that he was the one behind the account. (Who doesn't love a blatantly fabricated red herring! Yeah, this whole thing was a mess.)
Pasquale confirmed to me that he collaborated with @VCBrags, although he denied being its proprietor, which @VCBrags backed up.
Oh i was def involved with a couple videos, they were fun to do, and I think those were the most lighthearted and funny things to come from vcbrags. I was hoping they'd make more!
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) August 31, 2020
I don't know them personally, just sent a few scripts for videos and voice overs
Pasquale also claimed to be unaware of @VCBrags' copious nastiness, apparently only conversant with "the hits":
Sure, but that video is not what people are criticizing here.
— Bobby Goodlatte (@rsg) September 1, 2020
There are plenty of posts from VCBrags that are funny, in good faith, punch up—all good.
The mean-spirited, toxic posts—particularly towards junior people & those trying to break in... Those posts were awful.
that's interesting, I didn't really see any of those, just the hits!
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) September 1, 2020
fwiw if i was a junior venture capitalist and someone pointed out I was being a dick swinger, would appreciate a nudge away from becoming one of the big daddy money douches with a few clapping emoji
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) September 1, 2020
You know what? I don't buy it. I don't buy this guy's story, I don't think he sounds very nice, and I think it's fair to view him with suspicion going forward. Take a look:







wassup with this? @pasql https://t.co/8pzFXeOUeq pic.twitter.com/calozt1SeI
— 🎀 sonyasupposedly.com 🤖 (@sonyasupposedly) August 31, 2020
Pasquale told me, "they tweeted that shit because I did them a favor, it's not rocketsurgery," and sure, that's possible. There's no definitive evidence that Pasquale has lied, and I can't prove that he was more than an outside collaborator.
On the other hand... cui bono? Almost nobody benefited from this account, with a single exception that we know for sure: Pasquale D'Silva.
Internet needs a batman to undermine these scammy entrepreneurs. All the technology which enables massive bot nets that interfere with bigger movements start here, with these companies growth hacking their social game.
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) October 17, 2019
is batman a coward????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
— Pasquale D'Silva (@pasql) August 31, 2020
Cheers again to Jeremy Arnold for doing the legwork.