11–20 of 20 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you expand on soft landing? Flying high and crashing and burning are somewhat self explanatory from a fund manager's perspective, but I'm curious what you meant by soft landing. Do you mean a 'life-style business', or trying a few smaller ideas simultaneously? (Genuinely interested, not sniping or anything).
Presumably something that's profitable but does not have mass appeal
Does it not strike people as somewhat ironic when something like this is written by an investor, a person whose MO is to basically spread risk across a portfolio of companies instead of an entrepreneur like Elon Musk who has actually done what is described in the post time and time again? Don't get me wrong, I really like DMC, but it strikes me as somewhat contradictory for a piece like this to be written by anyone b…
At the end of the day, fear is fear, we all have it, you either keep going or you let it stop you.
This is definitely a cultural thing. In discussions with the folks I'm working with (in London), failure is still the big fear. In Europe it seems, one failure marks you for life. In fact I had this exact discussion, I (Bay Area based), have definitely felt much more the fear of success. My take is that when you are afraid of success, you are probably picturing a much different version of what success is than someone…
Does it not strike people as somewhat ironic when something like this is written by an investor, a person whose MO is to basically spread risk across a portfolio of companies instead of an entrepreneur like Elon Musk who has actually done what is described in the post time and time again? Don't get me wrong, I really like DMC, but it strikes me as somewhat contradictory for a piece like this to be written by anyone b…
He wasn't always an investor, and setting up a new fund/accelerator/etc. is closer to being an entrepreneur than the investor role of a random principal at a big VC.
Risk-wise, setting up and running your own fund is somewhere between starting a new business with an unproven business model and opting for a career path. IMHO it's not the risk profile described in this post.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He wasn't always an investor, and setting up a new fund/accelerator/etc. is closer to being an entrepreneur than the investor role of a random principal at a big VC.
Definitely. A 5 minute conversation with Dave will sound remarkably similar to a 5 minute conversation with other founders - he's always spread too thin, trying to raise money, figuring out the hustle, helping wherever and however he can.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely. A 5 minute conversation with Dave will sound remarkably similar to a 5 minute conversation with other founders - he's always spread too thin, trying to raise money, figuring out the hustle, helping wherever and however he can.
Agree, however I just don't see where the fear of flying motif comes into play when you don't have all your eggs in one basket. Once a fund is raised it's typically for 10 years. There's a lot of hard steady work to do in those 10 years, but you don't really have a milestone to meet every 12-18 months otherwise you've failed and your business is over.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He wasn't always an investor, and setting up a new fund/accelerator/etc. is closer to being an entrepreneur than the investor role of a random principal at a big VC.
Yes and no. Is it entrepreneurship? Yes. Is it a startup in the Steve Blank sense of the word? No. It's a proven business model that works for those individuals that have a solid reputation and professional network. Is it more risk than being a partner or principal as a big VC? Yes. Risk-wise, setting up and running your own fund is somewhere between starting a new business with an unproven business model and opting…
Does it not strike people as somewhat ironic when something like this is written by an investor, a person whose MO is to basically spread risk across a portfolio of companies instead of an entrepreneur like Elon Musk who has actually done what is described in the post time and time again? Don't get me wrong, I really like DMC, but it strikes me as somewhat contradictory for a piece like this to be written by anyone b…
But I've since learnt that a certain breed of entrepreneur-investors continue to disrupt (innovate) in other ways and in other arenas. One example is 500Startup's overseas initiatives like the one in India.
This is definitely a cultural thing. In discussions with the folks I'm working with (in London), failure is still the big fear. In Europe it seems, one failure marks you for life. In fact I had this exact discussion, I (Bay Area based), have definitely felt much more the fear of success. My take is that when you are afraid of success, you are probably picturing a much different version of what success is than someone…