I always encourage our entrepreneurs to add to the Board a potential mentor. Most do so and are usually glad later that they did. This topic has been coming up with two companies we just seeded, and so, I thought I’d write about it. As I’ve written before, the CEO job is the loneliest. A
Fly-Fishing As a Rite of Passage
Our children are out of school for summer. I’ve taken a few days off this past week to take two of them fly-fishing. Once a year, I drive five hours to a fishing lodge in northern NH, near Canada. It’s an area with little road traffic, no cell phone coverage, and spotty Wi-Fi (but enough
Liberty or Safety: the IRS and Eavesdropping
Like many of you, I have been reading about the various government efforts that just don’t feel right: IRS audits, collections of phone logs (of everyone, all the time, when there is no probable cause), eavesdropping in on phone calls, and the like. Increasingly, the government is expanding its powers of surveillance, many of which
Being a VC vs. a CEO
I had lunch with a VC friend of mine, who previously was a CEO. His firm this year has returned a billion dollars to their investors. We were talking about the VC job, and he made a very humble comment after I congratulated him on all the success: As a CEO, the harder I worked,
Finding a Co-Founder for Your Start-Up
I recently had breakfast with a former classmate, who is a serial entrepreneur. She has worked on quite a few start-ups and is now looking for a new one to start. She’s in a difficult situation because she has so many great options. Many VCs are showing her new teams and ideas, and she’s looking
How to Start Trends and Not Just Follow Them?
Today is a big day for the economy. And, it made me think of start-ups, trend-spotting and entrepreneurs. But, bear with me as I explain. It was announced today that housing prices are back on the rise, and the stock market has rallied strongly. I looked at the data and was surprised to find this: the