Guess what is often the worst slide in an investor deck? For me, it’s the competition slide. At best, it’s a list of competitors plotted in some 2×2 or Harvey-ball chart that isn’t terribly helpful. At worst, it’s hurtful. You’d […]

Boston is a great place to start and build a company.  There is a wealth of resources that are unique to this town and a vibrant community of hackers, business people, and investors at various stages in their career. It […]

I am a huge fan of the writings and research of Steve Blank.  But I think that his most recent post on first movers vs. fast followers can be easily misinterpreted.  His uber-point is that fast followers actually win more […]

Sometimes, early stage companies hear investors say that it’s “too early” for them to invest. It’s a puzzling response when most VC’s are considered “early stage”.  The definition of “early” seems to be inconsistent, and the very same investor might […]

I was having coffee a few weeks back with a friend who is at a large, very successful VC.  We were chatting about one of the senior partners at his firm, one that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to […]

I was a huge fan of comic books growing up, but what I always found amusing is that there tended to be certain archetypes of super heroes that would keep showing up.  For example – the “simple-minded strong dumb guy” […]

One of the things I have the privilege to do outside of work is serve on the board of an Christian church in Brookline called Highrock. The church was founded less than 2 years ago, and it’s been a pleasure […]

Quick post today that came to me on the subway.  During my time in Venture Capital, I was surprised to see how many “rules” there are that have become gospel in the industry.  At the same time, I was surprised […]

Yes!  I’m saying it – we are in the early days of an entrepreneurial renaissance in Boston.  Even in the wake of TechCrunch Disrupt.  Even though every VC that talks about the greatness of New England is doing so from […]

I remember early on in my VC career, I chatted with an entrepreneur turned VC who remarked “as an entrepreneur, time is your enemy.  As a VC, time is your friend.” What I think some VC’s mean when they say […]