The conflict is real.

“Jean-Michel [Basquiat] called,” Mr. Warhol wrote in his diary on Sept. 5, 1983. “He’s afraid he’s just going to be a flash in the pan. And I told him not to worry, that he wouldn’t be. But then I got scared because he’s rented our building on Great Jones and what if he is a flash in the pan and doesn’t have the money to pay his rent?”

Every publisher, promoter, impresario, and family member worries about this, at least a bit. The good ones acknowledge the conflict and dance with it.

Conflict of interest is real. And as Fred Wilson says, if there is no conflict, there is no interest.