Tom Eisenmann’s Why Startups Fail is a gem of a book. As I’ve blogged before (here), the success rate in venture capital is only about 33%: a super-majority of investments made by people who supposedly know what they’re doing comprises of flops. Some mainstream-media articles extol and chronicle successes that, truthfully, are few in number;
Category: HBS
Friendships on the Water
Some years ago, for grins and chuckles, I started to write for a fly-fishing blog (here). I did so to document my learnings, failures, and outings for myself. Plus I love writing. Gradually, other anglers offered to write for the blog as well, and we became a crew. We are passionate fly fishers who want
Conquering Fear
I’ve long thought that the two most powerful human emotions are these: fear and greed. You see it in everyday life, in the news, on social media, and in ourselves. I write this because I have been reading students’ reflections on fear. We organized the class into small groups and each discussed this: “If fear
Angel Investment: WayScript
We’re happy to announce that our family angel program (back 80+ entrepreneurs over eight years and donate all gains to charity; details here) has invested in WayScript. It is our 17th investment so far (portfolio here). During the pandemic, we’ve made three new investments. The other two are still in stealth mode, and so, I’ve
Summer 2020
August is one of those turning-point months if you have older children. That’s the time when they start to go back to college. It’s an exciting time for them, as most schools are trying to have some type of on-site living. They’ll be able to meet their friends again. For me, it’s a time of
The Class of 1995 ‘Zoom Boom’
My gosh, where to begin? I just worked on a team project that created joy and camaraderie for a large group of people. And, all credit goes to the nearly 30 people of the first-ever HBS alumni online talent show cast and crew. Our b-school class recently put on the event, which we called the