Well, I just said a temporary goodbye to Todd Brennan. Newly married, he is about to move to Portland. I first met Todd when I co-led the first institutional round in his company, Bit9, (edit: now called Carbon Black, the company has gone public). He and the founders had seeded the companies themselves and were
Category: Entrepreneurship
Important Survey of Entrepreneurs & VCs
There’s an awesome survey that just came out. Sponsored by the National Venture Capital Association, it asked both VCs and entrepreneurs what they think is valuable about venture capital. For me, what struck me were the following charts. First, what entrepreneurs perceive as “value” from a VC firm can be very different from VCs’s opinions:
How a Blank Sheet of Paper Changed My Life
A friend of mine is starting a company. As a first step, we were discussing various edits to her LinkedIn profile. She admitted that she seemed a bit stuck because those edits rippled through how she thought about her company. As we were going back and forth, I realized that my suggesting a LinkedIn profile
The Death of a Dream
It’s a busy week. In addition to portfolio company work, such as board meetings and CEO interactions, I’m meeting with 11 entrepreneurs, all of whom are raising money or are about to. So, I only have a few minutes right now to write about this: the death of a dream. Here’s what I mean. I
Challenge for Entrepreneurs: Resilience vs. Stubbornness
A few hours ago, I met another awesome entrepreneur: driven, smart, self-aware, and someone who projected a positive vibe. He is on his second start-up. He co-founded a company in college and stayed with it for 8 years. In retrospect, he said, he probably stayed too long. His comment reminded me of something Jerry Colonna
‘Don’t Take Failure Personally’
I met this morning with an awesome start-up CEO. Unfortunately, his company is out of cash next month. The company had raised money from some individuals (who are now tapped out), progress has taken longer than expected, and he has 30 days to raise new money or to unwind the company. “Don’t take failure personally,”