I was on the mailing list for Creative Destruction: it touts itself as “a non-profit organization that offers an objectives-based mentorship program for massively scalable, science-and technology-based startups. Founded in 2012 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, it focuses on helping early-stage ventures commercialize cutting-edge scientific research.”

In other words, it is taxpayer-funded university indulgence that doesn’t actually fund start-ups: they “mentor” and give “access” to investors, and naive solopreneurs and entrepreneurs can delude themselves into thinking they are getting something real.

From my personal experience, these so-called “investors” get government subsidies to pretend they have a viable business.

What these kinds of outfits are is a government make-work program for unemployable people with MBAs and PhDs.

They are a bit scattered brained, and I found out today just how much. I got this email.

The email was sent at 4:10 am, an odd choice to send such a message, but the email address was legit; so I went to see their calendar.

You couldn’t book a single date. None were available.

So I let them know their widget had creatively destructed and promptly unsubscribed. Don’t waste my time.

And then came an email blast which I found to be hilariously rude.

Especially this passage:

On Jun 2, 2026, you received an automated email sent on behalf of a Creative Destruction Lab team member about applying to the CDL-San Sebastian program.

This automated email was sent in error to a broader audience than intended. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.

Translation: we didn’t mean to invite you, little peasant, but you can fill out the peon form because we need to inflate the number of applicants to pretend this process is “competitive” but you’ll get ignored.

I’ll take a hard pass on this VC cosplay.

And to think they are well-shod goobers whose cushy lifestyle is funded by your tax dollars.

But you keep quiet like a chump as you suffer in silence.