4 ms·

If you credit yourself with being able to identify "game changers" among early stage startups, then you're crediting yourself with more wisdom than the VC commu

If you credit yourself with being able to identify "game changers" among early stage startups, then you're crediting yourself with more wisdom than the VC community. Even VCs acknowledge that they are wrong a large percentage of the time.

pg 15y ago
Yes. If she's right, she's certainly better than me at picking winners. I thought Airbnb was a bad idea when we funded them.
- pja 15y ago
  Were they an "invest because they look like good people to invest in" choice then pg?
  - pg 15y ago
    Yes. We funded them because we liked the founders.
aaronblohowiak 15y ago
" there’s only two, out of two hundred, I think are game changers. " -- 1% seems high to me, but it seems to surprise her.
- neelm 15y ago
  AirBnb seems like a startup is getting significantly more success. Why this person considers them to be more innovative than many other startups however shows I think a bias towards selecting a winner after its already won. There are plenty of amazing, innovative startups in terms of their vision and technology that will ultimately fail. That's the nature of the business. I think her problem is she just doesnt have the right deal flow, and doubt she has been part of or witnessed up close a game changer. There are startups in the Valley that are working on microbial fuel cells, flow batteries, microwave radar, tumour selective drugs, computational photography, nano-controlled membranes for unprecedented efficient water purification, stream processing algorithms, optical computing, immersive UIs, gasification, robust computer vision, RF plasma lighting sources, novel financial transactions, high efficiency combustion engines, compressed air storage, green plastics, ML for genetic applications, next gen EDA for <25nm structures, and of course shoedazzle. I think the issue is her dealflow and perspective. coming to SV for 6 months assuming you're going to see game changers when most VCs for 10 years dont is poor judgement.

pg 15y ago

Yes. If she's right, she's certainly better than me at picking winners. I thought Airbnb was a bad idea when we funded them.

pja 15y ago
Were they an "invest because they look like good people to invest in" choice then pg?
- pg 15y ago
  Yes. We funded them because we liked the founders.

aaronblohowiak 15y ago

" there’s only two, out of two hundred, I think are game changers. " -- 1% seems high to me, but it seems to surprise her.

neelm 15y ago
AirBnb seems like a startup is getting significantly more success. Why this person considers them to be more innovative than many other startups however shows I think a bias towards selecting a winner after its already won. There are plenty of amazing, innovative startups in terms of their vision and technology that will ultimately fail. That's the nature of the business. I think her problem is she just doesnt have the right deal flow, and doubt she has been part of or witnessed up close a game changer. There are startups in the Valley that are working on microbial fuel cells, flow batteries, microwave radar, tumour selective drugs, computational photography, nano-controlled membranes for unprecedented efficient water purification, stream processing algorithms, optical computing, immersive UIs, gasification, robust computer vision, RF plasma lighting sources, novel financial transactions, high efficiency combustion engines, compressed air storage, green plastics, ML for genetic applications, next gen EDA for <25nm structures, and of course shoedazzle. I think the issue is her dealflow and perspective. coming to SV for 6 months assuming you're going to see game changers when most VCs for 10 years dont is poor judgement.