David Cummings on Startups

Top 3 Mistakes as a First-Year VC

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David Cummings

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Jason Lemkin, author of some the best Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) content online at SaaStr (also check out David Skok’s great For Entrepreneurs site), recently tweeted his top three mistakes as a first-year VC:

My takeaway after reading the tweets is that Jason is a big believer in betting on the jockey, more so than the horse. For many years I believed it was better to bet on a great market with a good team and now I’m in Jason’s camp — it’s best to bet on a great team and trust that they’ll find a great opportunity, even if it isn’t readily apparent.

What else? What are some other thoughts on Jason’s top three mistakes as a first-year VC?

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One response to “Top 3 Mistakes as a First-Year VC”

  1. stoneyriverguy Avatar
    stoneyriverguy

    I always bet on the Management Team to execute. The five area that I look at first are: Management Team (passion, trust, optimism, character/integrity and diversity of thought process); Market Opportunity; Business Strategy; Value to the Customer (What is the problem, What is different and better about what they do and Why does this difference matter) and Financial growth. I learned long ago when you can sell something as silly as Pet Rocks and make significant money, it is not the product, but the execution of the business.

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