SoftBank, the most bullish tech investor in India, is taking it slow

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Editor's note: SoftBank’s Vision Fund is the bellwether of optimism, grounded in the belief that technology-enabled businesses will change the world for the better and the fund will profit from it. It also serves as a sort of benchmark for venture capital firms. I know this because several venture investors like to boast about this. I’m afraid the latest on this investment thesis is that SoftBank has been humbled. A couple of weeks ago, the Vision Fund posted a $7.2 billion loss in the July-September quarter. Meanwhile, Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s charismatic founder, said he was stepping back from running day-to-day operations at the fund “for the next few years” to focus on UK-based semiconductor company Arm. The fund’s losses have been a matter of concern for some time now. For the year ended 31 March 2022, the fund reported a record $20.5 billion loss. Son had said at the time that the firm would go slow on new investments, cutting them by almost half. Sure, some companies will get good follow-on money, but I doubt it is going to rain funds like …