Balance

A friend commented on the Business 2.0 article about Union Square Ventures.

She said, "Your quotes were a mix of unbridled enthusiasm and measured market
intelligence."

I was glad to hear that because its a balance that we have been trying to strike and its hard to get it exactly right.

On one hand, we are huge believers in the transformative power of the Internet and internet-based technologies. When you get us talking about all the interesting stuff that is happening out there, we sound like unbridled enthusiasts for sure.

On the other hand, we lived through one internet bubble and don’t really want to see a second. Talk to the entrepreneurs who we are saying no to and you’ll hear that we (and others in the VC business) are being too cautious.

Getting that balance right is hard.

But if you get it right, you can be a very effective investor and partner for the entrepreneurs you back. You have to believe in what you invest in and work hard to get others to believe in it too.  But you also need to be bring a dose of reality to everything you work on. Entrepreneurs are also unbridled enthusiasts and one of the main roles for an investor is to pull on the reins from time to time.

So I am happy that we came across with that balance.  It’s something we work hard on and it’s important.