Who should you hire: the superstar with great skills who feels like a poor fit with the culture, or the person with weaker skills but who fits in culturally? Even though I believe in hiring the stranger, cultural fit really matters. I once had an interview set up with a candidate who looked strong on...
[Continue Reading]A family-friendly work environment is a powerful recruiting and retention tool
My wife and I have a lot of conversations about work-life balance, or as I usually think of it, making sure I don’t use up too many “spouse points”. Many early-stage companies do not have these issues top of mind, because so many founders are pre-children. However, even people without children often end up having...
[Continue Reading]Meetings are important, but written collateral is mandatory for closing the deal
I’ve noticed a lot of founders raising capital prefer to have face to face meetings, as opposed to answering questions in writing. Some don’t want to share a deck in advance of a meeting. When you’re fundraising, I suggest keep in mind you are accomplishing different goals. The goal of all communication with a potential investor...
[Continue Reading]The investment committee rejected you; what does that actually mean?
One of the most common ways a venture capitalist rejects you is a variation of, “I love you, I love your company. I brought it up to the investment committee (“IC”)….but they turned it down.” What does that actually mean? Is this the business equivalent of telling a flame, “It’s not you, it’s me”? A...
[Continue Reading]Your startup is running out of cash — now what? Should you pivot or perish?
“Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” (“Man Plans, and God Laughs.”) We hope for the best, but are forced to plan for the worst. Almost all VCs will have companies that fail. The CEO comes to us. She has 3 months of cash left. Existing investors have said they’d be glad to invest…if she gets a...
[Continue Reading]Why venture capitalists are investing in international startups
Why are more US VCs investing in international startups? Take a look at The Fortune Unicorn List: of the top 100 most valuable unicorns in 2016, 39 are currently based outside of the United States. While fundraising of US VCs has dropped slowly as a percentage of global limited partner allocations over the last decade,...
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