The world of venture capital has, in recent years, captured the imagination of the general public through the stories coming out of Silicon Valley. However, the VC world has also drawn its share of criticism for its lack of diversity and even lack of social empathy, especially in the past year. As one of the
I just finished readingAlexander Mallery’s paper on “protective ignorance” in Stanford Intersect. It’s an interesting take on the Elizabeth Holmes/Steve Jobs connection and how it may have shielded her and her company from scrutiny. Some highlights: Holmes, thus, did not just copy the Jobs story—she improved upon it. Jobs dropped out of Reed College
In case you missed it, HBR.com has a good piece on BMW’s “venture client” corporate VC model that’s worth the time to read. Some highlights: Based on his own experience, a reading of the emerging research, and dozens of conversations, Gimmy was convinced that the innovation impact of corporate VCs had been disappointing not
In case you missed it, Andreessen Horowitz’s Bendict Evans has an interesting take on what differentiates tech with game-changing potential from mere novelties. His post is worth a careful read. Some excerpts: It is unquestionably true that many of the most important technology advances looked like toys at first – the web, mobile phones, PCs, aircraft, cars and
One of the more memorable books I’ve read is called Dead Men Do Tell Tales, in which Dr. William Maples takes you inside the world of forensic medicine. As the book points out, you can learn a lot from the dead, which is why one of my favorite web pages to browse is CB Insight’s startup post-mostem page. From cash
Interesting piece in today’s WSJ about the higher than advertised VC failure rate. Excerpt: “It looks so easy from the outside. An entrepreneur with a hot technology and venture-capital funding becomes a billionaire in his 20s. But now there is evidence that venture-backed start-ups fail at far higher numbers than the rate the industry usually
