The global reach of the internet is grossly unrealized. Although it’s hard to find a reliable source of information for this, most reputable sources state that nearly 60% of the world still does not have access to the internet. There are a number of companies who are developing and creating technology that might cost effectively bring the internet to the most distant and remote regions … Continue reading Internet of Everything
This week I had the opportunity to speak with several early-stage, technology companies throughout the country. No matter where a company is based, I am usually most focused on learning the following things in the first meeting: What problem is being solved Is there enough evidence to justify the problem is big enough (can it scale) Can I clearly understand who benefits most from using … Continue reading Entrepreneur’s Guide to Problem Solving
Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Pete Sonsini, General Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA). NEA is based in Silicon Valley along Sand Hill Road and has more than $3B in assets under management in their latest fund. For more than 30 years the firm has invested in over 350 companies and has had 208 companies IPO – quite an achievement by … Continue reading Key Takeaways from one of the Most Successful VC Firms in the World
One of the most important things I learned this week is to be more open with people and let my guard down more often. I’ve been told that I might seem “guarded” at times, and there’s probably some truth to that. However, it is by no means intentional. There are a myriad of reasons for “why” I think I often struggle with maintaining a consistently … Continue reading Let Your Guard Down
My first job out of college was in the field of engineering (Structural Engineering, to be precise). I wanted to build buildings and work on complex job sites where I would wear a hard hat and boss people around. For some strange reason I thought this was what engineers did……..right out of college. After college, when I sat down at my desk for the first … Continue reading Can You Be a Good Investor If You’ve Never Been an Entrepreneur?
Probably the most fun part of what I do is talking to startups from all over the United States (and world). This week I had the opportunity to talk to a fin-tech startup called Copper Street. Copper Street has built a platform that takes a novel approach to educating people about finance and the stock market through gamification. Individuals using the site can create a … Continue reading Week in Review of Cool Startups
I have been doing a lot of thinking about risk, reward, and probability and how these things affect our decision making processes. I often wonder if there is a direct and proportionate correlation between risk and reward and how much probability has an impact on the risk/reward relationship. Risk has many different variations and is usually defined as something that “could” occur. Probability is the … Continue reading Risk and Probability
I enjoyed this graphic a friend of mine sent over in his newsletter. Continue reading The Emotional Journey of Creating Anything Great
It’s the first day of the New Year and now that 2016 is over it’s probably appropriate to look back and reflect on all the positive things that happened last year. Professionally, I was able to work with a stellar team to create a new investment fund for our company. I got a title change from Manager to Director. Our firm had two portfolio companies … Continue reading 2017 Goal Planning
One of the most common issues pertaining to startup companies that comes up in venture investing is whether or not the existing leadership team could benefit from a change in leadership at the top. If the title of this post didn’t give it away already, yes, I am talking about the CEO position. The CEO position – it is either the least or most coveted … Continue reading What makes a good CEO?
TheJCurve 