9/28/2004

No King Makers in VC Business

Jeff Nolan offers good advice to entrepreneurs to pick their VC's wisely. Changing a few words from the article:

A productive and value-creating relationship is one where the players get along well together and respect each others contributions, the leadership team is strengthened with a good backstop provided by the board, and ultimately that the company performs to expectations because all of the parts mesh well together and deliver the right product to the right market at the right unit economics.

As investors and management, it is prudent to consider all the things that can go wrong and then assess each investors ability to manage through those obstacles, before committing to a particular VC. If the VC can't be a team player, it's not likely they will create significant value.

"There are no king makers in this business, building a successful company takes some luck, but a lot more hard work from everyone, including the board of directors. "