I wouldn’t trade my job for anything. Seriously.
My average day consists of non-stop back-to-back meetings with entrepreneurs. Some are pitching to us. Some we’ve already invested in. But in either case, I’m honored to have a chance to play a small role in helping people start and build incredible companies.
It’s very clear what we’re trying to achieve, and therefore what we can do each day to move the ball down the field.
Our one unifying metric is Alpha (a.k.a. achieving above-average returns for our investors).
Everybody wins: if we help our entrepreneurs grow their companies and get outsized exits, we simultaneously help our investors achieve great returns.
How do we deliver Alpha? There are four activities we can do every day to make tangible progress:
- Pipeline: We work hard to develop and nurture a healthy pipeline of potential investments. As a VC, you want to see a lot of deals and win the opportunity to invest in the very best companies with the very best entrepreneurs.
- Portfolio: Once we do invest, we need to work tirelessly with (and for) our companies to ensure they grow faster and eventually exit.
- LPs: You earn the right to raise your next fund if you do right by your Limited Partners (investors). This includes communicating often and transparently, ensuring they’re along on the journey, and (most importantly) providing stronger returns than they could achieve elsewhere.
- Brand: How does your firm get noticed? Why would entrepreneurs choose to take investment from you versus other sources of capital? Why would a prospective LP choose to invest in you? Building a brand is a long-term, deliberate process to drive awareness, trust and credibility. The stronger your brand, the better your visibility into great deals and likelihood to be invited to invest in these deals.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll dig deeper into the lessons we’ve learned (so far) along our venture capital journey.
Join us on the journey,
Steve Greenfield
