Musings on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Saturday, July 24, 2004Designing a Robust Early Stage VC Firm
Launching a venture capital firm - particularly one that focuses on seed and early stage investing - is a daunting entrepreneurial challenge. The VC business is fraught with uncertainty and dynamic complexity exacerbated by structural rigidity. As the market changes, new VC firms have to adapt by designing approaches they hope will allow them to survive and thrive.
Earlier this week, I spoke with Andy Funk of Funk Ventures in Southern California. I've summarized my understandingn of his firm's strategy and constrasted it with the path taken by Bill Reichert and his colleagues at Garage Technology Ventures in Silicon Valley.
Why might you care? If you anticipate raising money from a VC, it's a good idea to understand his motivations, constraints, and strategies. After all, any effective salesperson knows her customer.
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