A VC - Latest Comments in I Got Lucky

Re: I Got Lucky

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:45:26 -0000

Good Advise

Re: I Got Lucky

ventureblogalist — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:38:28 -0000

picking the right industry is going to require a bit of luck too.

Re: I Got Lucky

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:12:40 -0000

After working in the startup environment since eighteen, four months interning, graduating at the top of my class and networking like crazy, I finally landed a VC position. If you want to know how, call my office at 2am. Any day of the week. I'll be there.

Re: I Got Lucky

sajal — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:11:21 -0000

Fred,

Thanks for an inspirational post.
-Sajal

Re: I Got Lucky

fredwilson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:38:02 -0000

Thanks Slava, that helps

Re: I Got Lucky

SF — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:52:05 -0000

Fred,

You are right, I should have left my name. I was not sure if disqus
would also show you my email address.

sf == Slava Frid.

Getting out of the safe zone of writing on professional topics into
posting socially, especially on non-neutral topics such as
professional development, is a big step for a lot of people (myself
included)

Re: I Got Lucky

fredwilson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:23:04 -0000

One thing that would help me know you is if you commented with your real name. I understand handles are a big part of the internet culture. But I think most of the relationships that have moved from online to offline for me have real names associated with their comments

Re: I Got Lucky

SF — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:44:08 -0000

I read Fed's post very differently. It is not about the MBA, per-se, or even experience, transactional or operational that you put on the resume. There is a component of quality to the experience, educational or job-related, and I think [hope?] that it is the "quality" that matters.

I think the key phrase in the post is "If you want to be a top tier venture investor, you must be recognized as one of the experts in the field you invest in." I would imagine that this is why the list of successful VCs (or CEOs, or anyone else) is so different in background and similar in results. No degree will make you a leader in the field, and just having a position and experience - operational or transactional or coffee-getting is not going to cut it.

The people I admire most are the people who set out to become leaders in their field and do it consistently - whether working long hours or working on themselves after hours - and deliberately. The qualities of curiosity, and conscious pursuit of where this curiosity might lead are some of the hardest skills to cultivate, and a hardly taught in degree-granting institutions.

:) I will know when I am a leader and an expert when Fred knows who I am without a having to see my resume. Ah, what a lunch it wold be :)

On a personal note - I am amazed at how many Penn alums are out there. Go Quakers :)

Re: I Got Lucky

fredwilson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:24:04 -0000

My partner at flatiron, jerry colonna, went to queens college

He was one of the best vcs I've ever worked with

Re: I Got Lucky

Scott Johnson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:05:59 -0000

I would counter that there is no "right" career path for a VC. Operating experience is no substitute for a good investment gut. When I look at the top VCs, the depth and types of operating experience vary widely. They all pick good companies, they all have good deal flow, they are all well versed in their investment focus area, but I don't see success correlating with operating experience or any other resume component at all.

I do see a disproportionately high concentration of Harvard MBAs though. That degree doesn't appear to correlate with success, but it does seem to correlate with access to jobs in the field.

Re: I Got Lucky

Anthony Kuhn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:19:40 -0000

Getting lucky is half the battle. The other half, I've been told, is showing up. Put those two together and it's pure magic! Thanks for sharing your story with the A VC reading public, as knowledge like this is hard-won.

Re: I Got Lucky

fredwilson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:25:04 -0000

Wow.

That's great to hear

Re: I Got Lucky

mygoodeye — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:24:01 -0000

Another note of thanks. This answers several of the major questions I have wanted to ask you!

Re: I Got Lucky

jonathanmarcus — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:02:25 -0000

This post was so helpful, at a really important time (for me). Thanks Fred.

Re: I Got Lucky

VOpsC — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:25:09 -0000

Very interesting article thanks Fred. Having been involved in the Internet space for 15yrs (and looking at opportunities in the venture space) I really admire you acknowledging the strengths that a management/operating role brings to the table. Having talked to many senior managers on their thoughts of MBA programs I wonder if you could share some of yours about how it relates to the VC world. Reading some of the comments it seems that most see a business degree as a way into becoming a VC - what about people who have the smarts, operating experience and desire without a business degree? Are we at the point where an MBA is a pre-requisite for aspiring venture capitalists?

Re: I Got Lucky

tetsuotrees — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:28:05 -0000

Thanks for the great post. I recently read Jim Cramer's book "Confessions of a Street Addict," which mentions your involvement in the funding of TheStreet.com. In one of the later chapters (I'm sure you've read or heard about at least parts of the work), Jim describes a note his wife left for him on her last day in the office. It read: "It's good to be good, but it's better to be lucky." Anyway, without wanting to run the risk of sounding like a bit of a squish, it's pretty cool to see what can happen at the confluence of those characteristics.

Re: I Got Lucky

Tony Bain — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:52:23 -0000

I think a lot of people encounter their share of luck along the way, taking the risk and capitalizing on that luck is what I think leads to stand out successes. The idea of following a formula to achieve it though seems more of a path to mediocrity, well at least a bit boring. I have always loved to do things the wrong way, success is good, but succeeding when odds are against you is better.

Re: I Got Lucky

Chim Kan — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:11:07 -0000

Thanks for sharing your experience!

It's great to have example of how people get their way to VC industry. I'm planning to get into one the Ivy League MBA school next year and probably after that, I want to try my luck in the VC industry.

I'm also curious to know if my operational background is going to help me (let's see if the last paragraphs will turn out to be true in the future.

Re: I Got Lucky

Stephanos Anton Ballmerfeld — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:40:07 -0000

Luck is for those who don't plan!

Re: I Got Lucky

Sat, 31 May 2008 14:35:17 -0000

While I agree that there operating experience can be extremely valuable to VC firms, perhaps it gets paid more lip service than practice? From what I've seen, the folks with actual operating experience (usually one, max two) at firms of all sizes typically are either the founders of the firm or are labeled "Operating Partner" and don't participate in the carry. Also, practically everyone and their brother wants to be a venture capitalist these days, so getting access to the "available" slots has become much, much more competitive. Even the smallest VC firms (I am at a mid-size firm) can afford to be very, very picky. Start with an Ivy League/MIT/Stanford MBA and you may pass the initial screen. What you'll then typically hear is that you need hard-core transactional experience either via the venture capital, private equity, investment banking or legal side to even get anyone's attention. If you get that far, realize that said ex-bankers and ex-big-firm lawyers are now heavily populating the business, and the familiarity bias--many people tend to hire people like themselves--one bumps up against can be and usually is a real barrier if you're not an ex-banker or ex-practicing lawyer (or you're not the son or daughter of someone well-known/connected in the business).

Operating experience can be very valuable and very rewarding, whether or not the newly minted MBAs eventually want to move over to the venture side. And it's nice to say that VC firms value operating experience as much if not more than transactional experience. I actually think that should be that way our business moves, and is a nice ideal to work toward. I just haven't really seen or heard that to be the case in the way any of these firms hires new people. While it's not impossible to get hired without transactional experience, I would say that it is much more difficult.

Re: I Got Lucky

scott crawford — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:28:22 -0000

And, of course, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Thnx Fred for another great bit of sharing.

Re: I Got Lucky

Workpost — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:06:24 -0000

Fascinating. "I did it all wrong and got lucky." Thanks for the info.

Re: I Got Lucky

chartreuse — Sat, 31 May 2008 09:40:06 -0000

ex-POSO,
I think you missed the (unsaid) point sprinkled throughout the comments.
People make their own luck.
And everybody's brilliant. Really.

Re: I Got Lucky

fredwilson — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:44:03 -0000

Availability is two way street

Re: I Got Lucky

ex-POSO — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:20:38 -0000

luck or brilliance? An MBA from Wharton takes more than luck, it takes brains, resources, but I'm not one of the privileged class that had that option. I did bust my ass for a PhD from a small private school. Got involved in a small Internet startup that raised about $100M in capital. It was a roller coaster ride and eventually bottomed out for me when I lost it all in the stock market crash.

Now I'm a corporate grunt slaving away hoping to retire "early" at 60.

I don't know if I lacked luck or brilliance, probably both.