There is an expression in the venture community that every fledgling entrepreneur needs to take to heart.  "Buying a vowel", popularized by the TV game show, Wheel of Fortune, often emerges in a partner meeting where new investments are under discussion.  One partner says, "We need to buy a vowel" on company XYZ, meaning we…

I see many different entrepreneurial types in my work.  Most are motivated by building a new, new thing, some are motivated by good works & deeds and some (more than you realize) by money.  It is that last class of individuals that bear a bit more scrutiny.  I can never quite tell up front if…

I have been in a number of "knock-down-drag-out" fights in my life.  Not literally, except for the kid I tried to beat up in Junior High for dissing me in front of a potential girlfriend.  That was a big mistake. And I still have a very short temper as my CFO and others can testify.…

I would estimate that about 50% of the pitches I hear include some variation on the title of this Blog.  The entrepreneur, in an effort to distinguish his or her product or offering, claims that their idea is unlike anything else the world has ever seen.  This often confuses me.  I start by listening intently…

The first question I ask myself when reviewing a start-up investment is whether they are "crashing the business model party".  By crashing the business model party, I refer to the ability of the proposed solution, software, network, or whatever to challenge conventional wisdom and create a new way of doing business. Picture in your mind…

Fred Wilson recently had a good post on choosing  board members for entrepreneurial companies.  As Fred points out, too often start-up companies either pick or are asked to add inappropriate people to their Board.  Some are better candidates for your advisory board, if you have one.  Others are not good candidates at all. Board members…

Over the years, I have had several requests to provide translations of my posts.  Until recently, this was not an easy option. I would paste the Blog entry into a translation site, hope for the best and forward the "result" to the requester.  I rarely heard positive or negative comments on the translation, just as…

I know this is a controversial topic.  Should CEO’s "shop" key decisions among board members prior to a meeting?  Many of my fellow VC’s want "equal and simultaneous" communications about corporate issues at board meetings so that "meaningful and fair" discussions can then take place. From my perspective, I hate to spend a lot of…

" Cash in the hand is worth more than promises in the spreadsheet" I coined this phrase during a long set of negotiations involving the sale of one of my portfolio companies. The Board faced a difficult decision about maximizing shareholder value in light of two very different offers for the company.  The discussions, negotiations…