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Why it’s Critical That you Reference Check Your VC

Both Sides of the Table

I often tell people that raising venture capital is more difficult than getting married. Not so in venture capital. How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? Get a reference list - Most entrepreneurs do almost no reference checks or at least do them very informally.

VC 298
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How Boards Need to Evolve Over Time

Both Sides of the Table

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic.

board 325
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The Audacious Plan to Make Electricity as Easy as WiFi

Both Sides of the Table

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

VC 418
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What I Would Look for When Choosing a VC – Knowing What I Know Now?

Both Sides of the Table

I’ve sat on ad tech boards with board members who clearly knew little about impressions, fill rates, CTRs, RTB, eCPMs or the difficulties & opportunities of embedded mobile SDKs vs. HTML5. And so is venture capital. The best way – of course – is to reference check. Industry or Operating Experience?

VC 364
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Bolstering the Partner Ranks at GRP

Both Sides of the Table

Like any firm we of course invest in the San Francisco Bay Area where 33% of my personal boards are. We both wanted to put energy into GRP’s platform of services that provide more value to our investments than merely capital. I made some reference calls. So we talked about his joining. They were effusive.

VC 360
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The Double Standard of Female CEOs Moving Fast and Breaking Things

This is going to be BIG.

Investors let him control the board as long as he continued to make them paper rich, and then actually rich--so they couldn’t technically force him out. When it happens at companies run by women, the media, disgruntled employees, and their investor board members, burn them at the stake. Two reasons: One, they had no other real choice.

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When the Good Guys in Venture Change Roles

Both Sides of the Table

I’ve worked very closely with Matt over the past four years as we share an investment in a company in Los Angeles called NextPlus and we sat on a board together for years. In this capacity I can tell any entrepreneurs raising early-stage capital that I would have Matt on my short list if I were raising. He’s committed.

ventures 291