“This is the first time I’ve ever worked on a startup that is being actively opposed. It has real enemies.”

Eric Ries on the Long-Term Stock Exchange, which finally made its debut this week. Silicon Valley’s controversial homegrown alternative to the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange, the LTSE is backed by a who’s who of VCs, including Andreessen Horowitz, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and AOL founder Steve Case. It’s been nearly a decade since founder Ries first conceived of and wrote about his vision for the exchange in 2011 bestseller, The Lean Startup. Its mission: To untether companies from the stock market’s fixation on short-term results and focus on long-term value creation, while retaining tighter control over their future.

Silicon Valley Is Quietly Building Its Own Wall Street