After subprime interest rates went to or near zero, prompting a huge influx of cash available for VCs with heightened FOMO due to increasing complexity of software. Marginal quality of talent decreased while remuneration went through the roof, drowning out valid signals in cvs and interview processes with so much noise that any complicated enough system was seen as valid. Extremely high rate of failure, which was made acceptable due to the potential rewards of funding a unicorn early further degraded the ability of anyone involved to conduct clear assessments.