Thought Leadership Threads

It’s hard to produce a 3X+ #VC fund. It’s much harder to do this consistently. Our first 4 funds are mature enough to know where they’ll end up and all of them will handily beat this benchmark. I reviewed our portfolio this morning and jotted down 12 notes. Shared:

One #startup trap to avoid (founders and VCs) is to fall in love with a value prop that can’t be delivered IRL now. Good diligence will surface disconnects but they’re often brushed under the rug by #VCs who believe fixing delivery over time will be fine. Unpacked:

VCs hear thousands of pitches in their careers but only say “yes” a few dozen times. Getting their attention in the initial pitch meeting is important because you won’t get a second meeting without the first going well. Here are 10 tips to help your pitch game:

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One of the biggest innovations in Banking came with the invention and deployment of ATM machines.  The technology is just over 50 years old and now over 10 billion transactions happen through ATMs each year in the US.

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I wish the 50-year old me could go back and give some “tough love” advice to the younger me. I’m not sure I would have listened, but maybe someone out there in the #startup ecosystem will.

Here are 8 pieces of hard earned wisdom that might serve you well:

I was in a Board meeting not too long ago where the CEO and one of the company’s Board members obviously weren’t seeing eye to eye. It was awkward and avoidable if each person realized how they were behaving. The situation reminded me of a well-known parable:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in the #startup world, if it doesn’t feel like you’re constantly running then your business is probably about to die. The same is true at highly successful bigger companies. Let’s start with an analogy:

There’s a supply/demand imbalance in the startup world (too much capital/not enough great companies). This means it’s a great time to be a Founder if you have an epic idea, but how do you know if your idea is any good? I asked some amazing VCs and here’s their advice:

Many #Startup CEOs struggle to redefine their own role as their company scales. I’ve been asked by startup CEOs many times: “What should my job be?” What follows is a framework I’ve used to guide various CEOs through the evolution from a “Small Team CEO” to a “Proper CEO”: