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
Essay on the Death of a Parent
There’s a very moving essay in today’s Sunday New York Times. For those of us who have lost a parent, I think you’ll find it worth reading. Click here to read it.
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
We Don’t Own a TV
We don’t own a TV. I know that sounds crazy, but we are among the 1% of U.S. households that don’t own a television. Let me explain why. When Mrs. T. and I moved to Singapore after business school, we decided not to buy a TV. There wasn’t (back then) a lot of interesting TV
“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