The Business of Venture Capital, 3rd Edition

31Let Me Know How I Can Be Helpful: Value Creation

VCs want to be helpful, but in that delusional arrogance (or neediness) they assume that everyone is groveling at their knees, seeking their help, while they sit on a high throne dispensing nuggets of wisdom. Now we have @vcstarterkit — a parody Twitter account ensuring that we don't do dumb stuff all day (like end every call with that annoying line, “Let me know how I can be helpful”).

Source: vcstarterkit

As a board member, the best way to create value is to align closely the company's CEO, understand the key milestones, and support the short-term value drivers. For early-stage companies, these may be helping build the team or achieving product-market fit and early customer engagement. As the product gets ready for launch, access to beta sites or first customers takes priority. Risk mitigation is interwoven at all stages, with ongoing threats from competitors or substitutes. As the company grows, access to follow-on financial resources and scaling for growth becomes important. Finally, enabling exit negotiations requires the ability to align all stakeholders and ensure positive outcomes. Several variables affect this complex interplay, including the stage of the company, the CEO's ability and comfort in engaging the board, constitution of the board members and their skills, and investor alignment.

“The best VCs know how ...