Everyone has a dark secret, I’m convinced. It’s likely something that happened to us in the past, and a memory which we no longer want to retrieve. But, when a whisper of that moment resurrects, it can bring on sudden and seemingly unexplainable feelings of fear, shame, anger, and self-loathing.

One of my favorite parts of being a VC is to serve as a resource.  Call it “coaching,” “being a sounding board,” or being a “trusted partner.” I hear a lot in my job.

And, it’s a privilege to help companies develop, and, to help executives grow personally. I strongly believe that an entrepreneur’s biggest challenge is not the market adoption rates, competitors, or macro-economic events: an executive’s biggest obstacle is him/herself. Helping someone achieve his/her full potential, IMO, is a key part of my VC job, whether we at Kepha are investors or not.

There’s one exec., who shared with me that a parent committed suicide. There’s a founder who struggles with alcoholism. There’s an exec. who at a very young age was in a severe car accident and remembers the 12 hours spent alone in the hospital as doctors worked to save an eye.

I can go on.

It’s important, IMO, to acknowledge the past and stop being in denial. It’s the first step to being able to move on. It’s something I’ve had to do (about which I’ve blogged openly here). It was a relief to write that blog post, honestly. It helped me move on from my past.

So, I laud entrepreneur Matt Lauzon for recently going public about the sexual abuse he encountered as a child (more here). I can only empathize with him, for I cannot imagine the horror that ensued from those incidents and the courage that has been required to come forward.

Matt, we’ve had some great conversations in the past and am happy to help out in any way possible. You’re doing a brave thing. You’re doing the right thing.