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Venture Patterns

Venture Patterns catalogs the best of what other startups and venture capitalists have figured out. Whether you are a VC, startup manager, founder, or simply interested in understanding the innovation economy, the benefit of exploring venture patterns is in creating a strong spirit of collaboration and transparency.

Venture Patterns by the Numbers:

15

tips on generating startup ideas 65+ topics for VCs (including 17 sourcing strategies and more coming)

25+

startup topics (with more coming)

4

entries on alternatives, complaints, and anti-patterns (anti-patterns are common behaviors or strategies but are ineffective, counterproductive and/or immoral)

3

“Question” posts 4 “Essay” posts A diverse group of 600 readers a month

About Venture Patterns, Miles Lasater

I am motivated by my work as an entrepreneur, investor, and educator. I started three companies and previously ran a public company. On the other side of the table, I have also been a VC and an angel investor. And finally, I am a Kauffman Fellow in venture capital and taught at the Yale School of Management. You can read more about me here.

Our goal is to provide what amounts to a “best of” catalog of some of the best advice, lessons, insights, or innovations that can be useful to founders and venture capitalists (VCs) alike.

Photo of two entrepreneurs laughing together.We hope startup managers and VCs develop more understanding of one another, and, in doing so, a strong spirit of collaboration and transparency.

Patterns mean recurring strategies or ways of thinking about the world. To date, we have taken a primarily descriptive approach in identifying, naming, and comparing and contrasting patterns. The pattern list can be used as a catalog for understanding and also for implementation.

Venture Patterns is inspired by a number of excellent books and websites. This includes “Design Patterns,” “Super Thinking,” “Great Mental Models,” and Farnam Street, among others. These other projects catalog the patterns in decision making, software engineering, and other fields.

We are brought to you by Purpose Built.