So I've been marginally involved with a couple of Mike Maple's less successful ventures. At digg, his involvement was basically put money on the table in one round, and (apparently) take money off the table at a higher valuation in a later round (not exactly "willing to throw it all away"). I've also been a customer of Egnyte.com, which seems starved for funds.

So in a world, where "entrepreneurs have all the power," what exactly does he bring to the table?

Apparently he impresses investors, but so did Bernie Madoff.

great point.

personally, am sick and tired of VCs pretend they know stuff and that they care about entrepreneurs.

If they care that much why don't they just give away money for free to the startups they think are promising.