The Business of Venture Capital, 3rd Edition

6A Business Where Enemies Accumulate

CHALLENGES OF A VC CAREER

Steve Jobs was not impressed by venture capitalists and once said of VC that it “sounds like a bullshit job to me.”¹ Ironically, this was reported by none other than Sir Michael Moritz, who was then a journalist and would become a venture capitalist and chairman of Sequoia Capital. Of his own experiences as a VC, he would say, “Every day is composed of a hundred soap operas — it's an exhilarating place to live and work.”²

As a venture capitalist, you are not creating anything new, but rather fueling the creation of new innovations and businesses. Often regarded as a commodity, a VC is often compared to a role of a slick, glorified financier — most of whom take credit for the entrepreneur's successes and hide their losses or blame them on others. On the other hand, some practitioners find a way to take credit for all successful outcomes.

This chapter looks at a few challenges of being a venture capitalist.

Emotionally and Intellectually Demanding, a Business of Thousand Nos

The business calls for a mental tenacity — not becoming exhausted by the times you must say no to entrepreneurs, turn people down, or turn someone's great idea down without being abrasive. Roelof Botha, Partner at Sequoia Capital says:

Friends come and go; enemies accumulate. At Sequoia, we meet with thousands of companies every year, and only partner with 15–20. That's thousands of interactions where we run the risk of making a negative impression. ...