VAST Data's $30B Valuation Ignores Operational Complexity Costs

VAST Data commands a $30 billion potential valuation (August 2025 funding talks with CapitalG and Nvidia) based on $200M ARR and claimed 90% gross margins. The valuation assumes that support costs remain negligible as the company scales. This assumption conflicts with VAST&rsquo;s actual system architecture. VAST has built a sophisticated, complex storage system. That sophistication creates…