Venture capital firms exist for a few reasons but the primary, driving goal is this: to make money, and lots of it. It's not that we're necessarily calling VCs cold-hearted capitalists. And sure they have to have a certain passion for entrepreneurship to put their neck—and wallets—on the line time and time again. But when it comes to working with start-ups, do VCs really care about much more than their return on investment or being the first to ferret out the next big thing?

The New York Times takes issues with this (admittedly cynical) position today, with a warm fuzzy article about altruistic investment firms whose mission is to uplift the community and foster local business. Rather than retiring to Monaco via private jet, ostensibly these VCs have an end goal of encouraging economic development in their community and to—seriously—make the world a better place. But what about the payoff, you might ask? "The return comes in the form of satisfaction for elevating a city or region's economic standing." Awww.

While certainly it's heartening to see that there are a few kind souls out there who care about more than finding a way to monetize MySpace, it's nonetheless hard to believe that this sort of altruism is anything other than a one-off. But speak up if you disagree - have we got VCs all wrong?