I met with an entrepreneur. He almost has enough money to retire early, but he loves what he is doing. He loves the freedom to work on a company with substantial potential. He is having fun. He is working for upside. He also mentioned that a key part of his financial freedom has been his
Category: Entrepreneurship
Why VC Is Important
I’m an unabashed fan of venture capital. Frankly, I think it is a job-creation machine. You may have read about Rhode Island’s $75 million loan guarantee to 38 Studios, a video game start-up that went bankrupt. Or, you may recall the $535 million of loans to the now-insolvent Solyndra, and for which the U.S.
“Optionality” for Founders
The best start-ups, we at Kepha think, are the ones that have or can achieve “optionality.” Optionally creates founders’ freedom. Without it, you’re hosed. Here’s why. Optionally exists when you have a repeatable and scale-able revenue model. With that, you can forecast revenues, which is the best form of financing available: non-dilutive cash. When you
A VC’s Strategy and “Kill Rate”
How many investments a VC Partner makes a year is critical to know. It greatly drives a firm’s strategy–and, the “kill rate” in a VC portfolio. That’s because many VCs are already on many boards (read “The Early-Stage Financing Digestion Problem”) and need to ration time. At Kepha, we believe in being highly selective. Each
Security, Bit9, and Business Models
The persistent and recent security hacks reported in the media remind me that we are unsafe. In spite of many dollars and much effort, the arms race against black-hat initiatives continues. Security is a sector that continues to intrigue me. At my previous firm, I was a founding investor in Bit9, which recently announced a
“Dead” Equity and Founder’s Remorse
I recently had lunch with an entrepreneur. He’s a graduate of one of the major accelerator programs here in town. A very thoughtful person. For his seed round, he raised money from angels. Unfortunately, one year later, he says that only half of them will even reply to emails. The rest have disappeared. This entrepreneur