Venture firms rely on the collective abilities of individuals and in many meaningful ways is a professional services firm. Therefore, human capital strategy is central to the business strategy of a venture capital firm. We have written about this in past Venture Patterns posts, such as Bring in Stars, Grow AUM, and Size is Strategy […]
Read the postShort Description In staffing the partnership, focus on or be just as open bringing proven professionals that come in with a new network, fresh perspective and strong skills. Benefits Fresh perspective Potential for high performance team member without as much training Trade-offs New folks may not fit May have performance drop off if the person […]
Read the postI’ve wondered before about the cause of founder/CEO outperformance. While it wasn’t always believed, there has been more research and more vocal advocacy over the last decade that the best CEO of a startup is the founder. Some assert the best CEO of any company is the founder. And there are lots of convincing arguments […]
Read the postHow should a lead investor in a seed round get paid for their role? In public markets, a high-profile investor will get the benefit of a better price for seeing and sharing an opportunity. In pre-seed private company investment, investors that go first will usually have a lower price. At Series A stage, a high-profile […]
Read the postStartup founders should have a vision of failure. That may sound like a radical idea. After all, advice to founders generally focuses on having a plan for success, not failure. Planning for success is important. And it is critical to avoid giving up too early. But, founders should recognize failure if it comes. Too often, […]
Read the postFor decades the VC world has been captured by an anthropomorphized notion of artificial intelligence. Much of this was aided by the ways in which AI innovators represented their technologies—for example, AI designs that intentionally looked like humans or animals when there was no technological reason for that design. By making AI seem akin to […]
Read the postNational public attention has appropriately shifted focus toward race inequality. Efforts to promote inclusion along lines of race and gender are at new heights today, and there is a pervasive sense that greater inclusion of minority voices in spaces of power and leadership can bring in perspectives that are necessary to building a better and […]
Read the postIn a previous post, we asked what the qualities of a successful entrepreneur typically are, whether those qualities can be learned, and whether environmental forces play a large role in entrepreneurial success. One piece of research that post discussed is an economics report titled “Who Becomes an Innovator in America?”, led by Harvard University professor […]
Read the postWhat makes someone an effective entrepreneur? How do they get that way? This question drives at what many founders, VCs and business writers spend their careers working to figure out. Yet what does the research say? Is entrepreneurship a skill, a personality type, or pure luck? Can entrepreneurship be taught? If so, can people get […]
Read the postPandemic. Stock market volatility. High debt levels. Waning confidence in the US dollar. A massive number of layoffs. “The worst recession since the Great Depression.” In so many ways, this does not seem like a great moment to start a new company. Yet, despite uncertainty and pain, now might be the right time to begin […]
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