I was talking with a distraught, young entrepreneur whose week had been rough. He had a much needed prospect go with a competitor and an existing investor reneg on a promise to fund the second tranche of his commitment. He was making himself miserable, thinking about a) the potential failure of his business, b) the […]
NKC’s: How I Focus My Year to Create Impact
We all come into the New Year with a fresh start from the holidays and the hope to check off a host of resolutions that will make the coming year a success in some small or large way. While these goals are well intentioned, we often set ourselves up for disappointment in the way we […]
The Three Drivers of Contentment & Motivation at Work
What motivates us to perform and drives contentment at work? Most entrepreneurs struggle with this question. You want success, want to have drive and yet rely too heavily on fear-based or external motivators which often leave a negative residue. The research shows that the most effective motivators are intrinsic and positive. A champion needs a motivation […]
Which Wolf Do You Feed?
Question: If you lose your fear, do you lose your drive? It’s a question many entrepreneurs ask themselves. They seem to have bought into the idea that you can either be content or you can be driven, but those two states cannot coexist. But that idea is flawed. In reality, we are the stories we tell […]
VC Confidential Is Now Something Ventured
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 […]
My Venture Covenant With Entrepreneurs
There is a false dogma around the VC/Entrepreneurship relationship…supported by bad behaviors on both sides. You feel a need to manage your investors & board, to not show weakness and present to us. We fail to fully listen, dictate desires or fears and financially optimize our investments. Trust and open communication are our most precious […]
Multiples vs IRR
One of my most popular posts from VC Confidential… “You Can’t Eat IRR.” — anonymous I was at a business school today helping judge several business plans. As group after group presented, I saw each make the same mistake as the previous. When they tried to justify the investment from the perspective of the VC, […]
Real Is Mandatory
Real Is Mandatory “Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’.” — Bob Dylan The venture markets are a-changin’ with investors and public markets demanding rational business models, visibility to profitable growth and inherently sound economics. Companies like Homejoy and Sidecar have gone under while stars like […]
The 15 Year Tech Cycle: Reloading for Another Tour
“If you can see it, it isn’t the revolution.” — Steve Jurvetson I wrote the following post in Nov, 2008. It demonstrated two things. 1) Tech and the stock market have a little dance they do…tech has roughly a 15 year cycle and the stock market has roughly a 7-8 year one and 2) tech […]
The Key Israeli Story: StartUp Nation
Larger Post coming…without appreciating the context (yesterday’s post), it is hard to fully grasp the origin nor significance of the tech renaissance that is taking place in Israel. One has to see it to fully appreciate it. Much like Boston and Silicon Valley had its origins in military R&D and culture, Israel’s tech ecosystem also […]