We Need More Women In Venture Capital
It has been very interesting to read the many recent articles of prominent venture capitalists speaking out about the mistreatment of women in venture. Here we are in 2017, just 45 years after Congress passed Equal Rights for Women that outlined employers could no longer discriminate base on a person’s sex, and it is still a topic of conversation. Sigh… In the course of American … Continue reading We Need More Women In Venture Capital
Dealing With Difficult Entrepreneurs
As soon as I wrote the title of this blog post I jokingly thought to myself, “Wait, is there a such thing as a non-difficult entrepreneur?” The obvious answer to that question is yes, but for anyone who consistently works with entrepreneurs, it seems the really difficult entrepreneurs are the ones that are most memorable (and not in a good way). When you examine the … Continue reading Dealing With Difficult Entrepreneurs
Incremental Progress + Purposeful Preparation = Positive Outcomes
I’m not big on clichés, but there are a few mottoes I live by that I believe have helped me quite a bit in life. I won’t list all of them here, but here are two I believe are worthy of sharing publicly. Motto #1: Incremental Progress Incremental progress is a methodology I adopted when I started learning Spanish 3 years ago. In short, incremental … Continue reading Incremental Progress + Purposeful Preparation = Positive Outcomes
The Importance of Validating Your Assumptions
In any given week I might have meetings with 5 to 10 different companies. Most of these companies are early-stage in nature and are often seeking one of two things: Advice and/or capital. If I had to guess, I’d say 10% are seeking advice, 85% are seeking capital, and just 5% are seeking both. For the overwhelming majority of those that are just seeking capital I … Continue reading The Importance of Validating Your Assumptions
Don’t Build What you Despise. Build Something Great.
Let me start by saying that I have a deep respect for entrepreneurs because they put it all on the line to make their dreams happen. But what I often wonder about is the underlying reason for why people want to become entrepreneurs in the first place. I’m sure there are many reasons, but I’ve narrowed it down to the three reasons that I believe … Continue reading Don’t Build What you Despise. Build Something Great.
Keeping Things In Perspective
One of the things I used to struggle with early on in my career was keeping things in perspective. I remember one of my earlier managers telling me “to never get too high on my highs or too low on my lows.” Thinking back, this was really good advice that I’ve learned to apply in many areas of my life. I was working in sales at … Continue reading Keeping Things In Perspective
Unconscious Bias and its Affect on Women and People of Color in Tech
I went to San Francisco last week to attend the Angel Capital Association (ACA) conference. ACA hosts several smaller conferences throughout the year, but the larger, annual conference is held just once a year usually in a cool city that everyone wants to go to. The purpose of the conference was for angel investors, entrepreneurs, and some venture capital groups to share ideas, hear from … Continue reading Unconscious Bias and its Affect on Women and People of Color in Tech
I Love Writing About Startups
I have spent this entire week writing an investment report about one of our portfolio companies we are in the process of investing in. Obviously, I like writing because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be spending my Sunday afternoon writing about report writing. Leisurely writing is different from writing an investment report that will eventually be distributed to an investment committee and subsequently to investors. … Continue reading I Love Writing About Startups
Saying “Goodbye” to Your Startup
One of the hardest things for some entrepreneurs to do is admit failure and move on. I view it as a sign of maturity and business intelligence, but all too often, many entrepreneurs do not see it that way. But the better question is “How do you know when it’s time to let go?” It’s not like there are manuals out there that tell you … Continue reading Saying “Goodbye” to Your Startup
Money is a Commodity – “You” Are Your Greatest Asset
I had a conversation with an aspiring entrepreneur this week about her company’s need for capital and how she thought I could help. I’ll admit, I am not that fond of her idea, but I was somewhat intrigued at how open she was about her struggle with convincing others to believe in her. I actually never told her whether I thought the idea was good … Continue reading Money is a Commodity – “You” Are Your Greatest Asset
TheJCurve 