Smart-as-a-whip VC Sim Simeonov did some math and some simulations and came up with the conclusion that a large “portfolio effect” has a major, almost overwhelming, effect on the financial returns of e.g. angel and seed VC portfolios. English translation: make a LOT of small bets in order to win. (Even if most of those [...]
Posts Tagged ‘vc’
Can a VC sit on more than 10 boards without f***ing up?
[Update: the conversation referenced below was with Scott Austin of the Wall Street Journal; he has written an article about the subject. In it, he quotes some VCs that have well over ten board seats, including Forest Baskett of NEA. I know Forest only through his and his firm's reputations (both stellar), and I emphatically [...]
VCs passing for “soft” vs. “hard” reasons
I recently made the choice (mistake?) of telling an entrepreneur, whose business I actually liked and respected, the real reason why I was passing on investing at the time. In this case, there was a new CEO recently signed up to work with a technical founder, there were some family relationships on the team and [...]
Newest source of entrepreneurial financing: the dole
From the VC grapevine comes word of a new innovation in startup funding in Portland (and elsewhere), Oregon: the unemployment department From http://www.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/UI/ui_special_programs.shtml#Self_Employment_Assistance__SEA_ The Oregon Self Employment Assistance (SEA) Program helps eligible unemployed workers set up a business on a full time basis and still receive full unemployment benefits. … To qualify for the SEA [...]
One-click Unsubscribe: For ALL Your Emails
I sign up for (let’s call it) 5-10 new web sites a week. It’s an occupational hazard. (In fact, there’s an even weirder effect where sometimes there are web sites I know only from Webex demos or slide decks, and not from visiting the site itself. But I digress.) As a startup, you SHOULD be [...]
The Downturn, REAL vs. FAKE VCs, and REAL WEALTH
In early October 2008 I was asked by a local entrepreneurial booster group for a quote giving VCs’ take on the state of the financial world. Here’s what I wrote (but was too busy/lazy to blog) at the time: REAL VCs have committed funds from stable, liquid, institutions who are not going away (state governments, [...]
Hint: Nobody Has Any Idea How This Thing Works
In Venture Capital, we have lots of rules of thumb for assessing entrepreneurs. Some such rules are: Invest in guys who are already rich, because they have fewer distortions in their motivations. Invest in guys who aren’t already rich, because they’re hungry. Invest in guys who have put their own wealth at risk, because they [...]