"Bitwarden also took VC investments. Which is fine."
Nope. With that, you've quite literally convinced me to not just avoid it forever, but to also recommend others do the same.
VC investments means "they're gonna want money back at some point," and the service they provide is too important to have that hanging in the air, especially given how badly MANY other VC backed things have screwed things up.
You've effectively told me, there's a serious, if not likely, chance that they will at some point screw me and my passwords over if I don't pay them ransom (or engage in some other similarly drastic behavior that I haven't even considered yet)
There is a difference and that is the Bitwarden bits are open source. If the masses decide to change direction and leave Bitwarden as a paid for service - they can. That can't be said about 1Password. IMO this counterbalance of OSS and VC investment can help to keep things in line - look at how this exact situation is playing out for Hashicorp. When you're $1B deep with no way for your customers to push back - you, as an end user, are no longer the customer. I still recommend Bitwarden over 1Password because of this.
Do you have any examples of startups that went to shit due to VC funding? I have a feeling you're completely right, and I want to recommend others to avoid it. I might need some examples to back this up though:)
Pebble. They had a great niche product that was growing organically and sustainably. VCs thought the smartwatch could be the next smartphone, and dumped a truckload of cash on them. Next minute they were burning all that cash pumping out too many new models.
Meanwhile everyone stopped wearing wristwatches except as a fashion statement. The original company would have survived this easily but the VCs wanted the next Apple or bust.
Nope. With that, you've quite literally convinced me to not just avoid it forever, but to also recommend others do the same.
VC investments means "they're gonna want money back at some point," and the service they provide is too important to have that hanging in the air, especially given how badly MANY other VC backed things have screwed things up.
You've effectively told me, there's a serious, if not likely, chance that they will at some point screw me and my passwords over if I don't pay them ransom (or engage in some other similarly drastic behavior that I haven't even considered yet)
Kill this garbage now.