Something Ventured is pretty fully operational! Back in 2005 when I was on the FeedBurner board (Twitter 1.0), I started VC Confidential with two goals: 1) to help entrepreneurs see behind the VC curtain on how we thought/made decisions and 2) to see how the FeedBurner RSS service worked in practice. Dick Costolo (CEO), Brad Feld and Fred Wilson (fellow investors) were great mentors and helped build my base. Over the years, however, I have felt a different calling with my blogging. So much so that I stopped for 2 years while I worked things through.
There are a lot of great blogs out there now around the tactical and practical elements of entrepreneurship and venture. However, what I have seen lacking is a deeper focus on the Entrepreneurial Journey from a more holistic perspective. This became the focus of Something Ventured (.net). Too many people (both entrepreneurs and everyday people) win the battle and loose the war. They survive the day, the month, the start-up, the next financing versus thriving and finding purpose/energy in the Journey. Jerry Colonna has built out Reboot.io around this (highly recommend it for all entrepreneurs). The Life Coach industry is booming for a reason. Why just “survive” when you can “thrive”? Why hit the finish line burned out when you can have sustainable success? When does “just getting by for the next three years” end? If I “lose my fear, do I lose my drive”? (No, BTW, just lose less sleep). These are the core questions I’m focused on.
So, there will be a broad array of tactical and practical (how to draft a value proposition, how to layout fundraising narrative, how to build culture, etc) but there will also be a lot on determining North stars & values, embracing radical self-inquiry, setting goals and establishing disciplines/habits to stay in alignment with these. Building skills not just for business for living the “good life”.
So, all of my old post (450+) still sit over at VC Confidential but all future posts will be here on Something Ventured. Tell your friends and share. Thanks!
— Matt