How Did Food by People End Up Raising Only $87?

Food by People raised $87, and Bernard Huang is clear that it was not millions. Maciej Ceglowski, founder of Pinboard, was satirizing venture capital. His line was that a founder does not need a VC's money. A founder needs grit, execution, and a little press, and Ceglowski could supply the press. The joke took off on Hacker News. From about 300 applicants he manually picked roughly ten people who might actually build something, Food by People among them, and he sent $37. Andreessen Horowitz added $50. Huang says he was still bullish on real venture rounds and only later understood the whole thing as satire. He and Ceglowski disagreed about that.