This doesn't always work, though: Jeff Bezos worked for a large hedge fund (D.E. Shaw) before starting Amazon, and pitched the idea to management -- and only left to found Amazon on his own when Shaw wasn't interested.
Starting an online commerce firm from inside a hedge fund is not exactly what this guy is talking about. He's talking about allowing promising managers to invest money (which is a hedge fund's business) without excessive direct interference from more senior managers and with a direct stake in the outcome. D.E. Shaw is not an internet company (Juno aside). What the author is suggesting would be something like Google giving operational autonomy and a percentage of the profits to the guys who came up with gmail.
