8
VCs and Consiglieres
DAN LEVITAN
THERE ARE LOTS OF WAYS TO MAKE MONEY IN VENTURE CAPITAL, AND THERE ARE EVEN MORE WAYS TO BE MEDIOCRE.
CROWDED OCEAN
TAKING MONEY FROM A VC CAN BE LIKE GETTING A LOAN FROM A GOOD FRIEND. OR IT CAN BE LIKE TAKING MONEY FROM THE MAFIA.
THERE IS NO MORE IMPORTANT—or more convoluted—relationship in the start-up world than that between the CEO and your VC(s). Even within one board (assuming that there is more than one VC on the board), you can see a huge swing in how the CEO and the VCs view the relationship.
On one hand, we hear this: “This guy has got it in for me. I can’t do anything right. It’s like he’s wishing for me to fail so that he can replace me.” To that person we say, don’t be naïve; this guy’s got ...
Get The Ultimate Start-Up Guide now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
