She seems to think that venture capital and academia are everything. Although I resonate with many things being a scam or a hustle, not everything is. There are plenty of real people doing tangible jobs that need to get done. She may have gone into school with a notion that academia + whatever I decide to learn = success. Perhaps she had the idea that she'd like to be a venture capitalist because venture capitalists can earn a lot of money.

She failed to realize that capitalists who venture their capital in a startup in exchange for stake equity do so with their own money. So she'd have to start wealthy to have the money to invest. She put the cart before the horse. The best she could do is strive to become an associate for a venture capitalist. Ideally, this person would have a good eye for recognizing successful businesses before they become successful.

I feel bad for her because the chances are she went and enrolled into some training to become a VC, and it probably wasn't explained to her how unrealistic the goal is if you don't have money from the start. I'd concede that most of academia, especially nowadays, is on a par with predatory lending. Even though the collegiate institution is not the lender, they're selling the pipe dream and steering people to the lender. In a day in age where race and gender studies abound, trade schooling is more likely to lead to a successful career path.