September 2009
21 posts
“The generous attitude towards failure that big cities afford is invaluable...”
– David Byrne via Caterina
“When I ask Clay what he would do if he couldn’t surf, he looks confused...”
– Clay Marzo from Liquid Cure
AMR is famous for asking me, “what would you want to do if you weren’t investing in companies”. My answer hasn’t changed for many years and when I read this quote on my flight tonight I found a bit of my own voice in Clay’s naive, but pure,...
“* Will I learn a lot from the experience? (failure can be very educational)
*...”
– Paul Bucheit via Evaluating Risk and Opportunity
“See where the people walk and then pave their path.”
– Lewis Mumford via Mumford’s Law and Vision vs. Customers
WatchRandy is spot on here. Rarely does pure luck alone net a successful outcome. Nor, does solely relying on hard work. There’s an interplay between the two that’s present in any real success story. Having the foresight and drive to be doing the right things at the right time in the right markets can, and often does, create pure magic.
“As someone who grew up always wanting to be a fashion designer it gives me a...”
– Scott Schuman aka The Satorialist
I love that at some point Scott came to terms with the fact that he would never become a word class fashion designer. Instead, he used his real talents to ultimately achieve his goal, though in an unexpected way. The last sentence of this quote reminds me of career...
“If you just want to work in finance, try to get a job at a hedge fund or a big...”
– Chris Dixon from How to Get a Job in Venture Capital
This is the single biggest flaw in the thinking I hear when speaking to college kids looking to get a job in venture capital. To most, it is just another branch of private equity. Its not. If you like financial engineering, “doing...
WatchMike Moritz and Paul Graham on what they look for when funding early stage companies. I particularly liked this bit from Moritz on backing proven entrepreneurs, with proven technology in proven markets.
“When we invest, nothing seems to be proven. If you’re looking for proven things you end up in the conventional end of the universe where uninteresting things tend to happen”
WatchShort clip of Mike Maples with some provocative thoughts on the toxic effect too much investor money can have on your start up.
via Venturebeat
“Great investors look for connections to make between their portfolio companies...”
– From 10 Characteristics of Great Investors
“Don’t tell me it’s impossible, tell me you can’t do it. Tell me it’s never been...”
– Dean Kamen (via Esquire)
“In my experience, the foundation of a great business depends on having a...”
– Josh Hannah (via Jeremy Liew)
fbFund Company Presentations →
I get asked all the time for examples of company pitch decks. Here’s a batch, hot of the presses, from today’s fbFund investor day that represent a mix of styles and strategies.