A VC - Latest Comments in Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

markslater — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:36:58 -0000

well if all the englishmen are comparing underpants here are mine

http://www.2wheels.org.uk/r...

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

David Semeria — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:07:34 -0000

Good point Carl.

Proper investment requires total intellectual honesty - perhaps not by coincidence, another Lynch quote.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

David Semeria — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:32:18 -0000

And rightly so. You two are going to have a whale of time!

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

David Semeria — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:17:55 -0000

Thanks Shana, very kind.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

David Semeria — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:17:04 -0000

Tying in a few threads, was is not Churchill who said (of Atlee, I think) "He's a modest man with much to be modest about" - that's me alright.

That said, I would never have anticipated my petticoats had the potential to inspire such heated debate :)

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:33:01 -0000

I think themes work better in growth equity. I don't really know who is the best at that game

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

apmaran — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:27:27 -0000

Well anyone can do Thesis driven investment and/or other thesis driven developments; the question I would like to ask is what makes you good at it; maybe it's not possible to answer but following what you are writing about and comparing it to other sources I would probably lean towards a Thematic knowledge approach; get as many buckets you can and fill them with information for later filtering and remixing ending up with thesis thinking to work with? Like filling the white spots on a map lets you get to know the art of map making and then you would know which map makers are good or not..
Well, just another comment in the bucket :-

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:15:14 -0000

Already do. I've seen the numbers. The good guys win. Add Foundry to your list

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:10:48 -0000

I'm gonna meet JLM this month. Super excited about that

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:10:07 -0000

Great questions Mo

If you are truly thesis driven, you start with one big macros thesis and then let the sub-theses flow from that

I suppose you could create theses for each theme but I don't like to do it that way

My answer to the last question is broadcast your theses and be flypaper

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:14 -0000

It doesn't come into play much in our investing but I sure hope it does within the halls of our government

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:58:29 -0000

One of investors I met early in my career used to day 'get the strategy right and execution is easy'

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:57:09 -0000

One of many reasons I blog is it requires that I think

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:55:42 -0000

I do too

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

TJ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:15:08 -0000

Fred, what are your thoughts on Growth Equity which is typically more thesis driven? What are the most successful theme focused VC's and do any ever remain successful in the long run?

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

Carl Rahn Griffith — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:51:59 -0000

Bohemian Capitalism! 'twas ever thus .... ;-)

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

paramendra — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:07:32 -0000

Twitter Should Go For A Netscape-Like IPO http://nxy.in/tjhq1
http://technbiz.blogspot.co...

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

William Mougayar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:41:54 -0000

It's tough to argue with a well written and thought-out post like this one.
At the end of the day, VCs have a list of things they do, and things they don't do; and in my recent experience speaking with a number of them, these lists go beyond the boundaries of themes and thesis.
Any investment has to align with their beliefs- whether these beliefs are right or wrong is subjective, because it's all based on assumptions.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

andyswan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:09:35 -0000

If I might add....as long as one is committed to thinking, it's probably best to THINK BIG.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

ShanaC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:08:16 -0000

JLM, why don't you blog on that subject. Seriously. About how to really think. I wish I had time to go back to product analysis. It made me happy. You seem to really believe in the subject, and we love your comments. I would read it.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

ShanaC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:06:53 -0000

I wish I had answers for this myself.

I'm hedging that from what I read here, parts of this thesis can be very radicalizing depending on the company in play. Some of those companies haven't been developed yet. We're using fluffy terms to make it sound happy-

However, I seriously wonder only because I just scared* a friend of mine based off some ideas that developed from my participation here with an art project I'm running off of Facebook. It implies a lot about the institutions underpinning websites, and what all it means about having an identity here, among other things. If these spaces change, does the thesis change? All sorts of questions I wonder about a little too much...

*Sometimes scaring people in art is a good thing. See Jenny Holzer if you don't believe me.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

jeremystein — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:43:00 -0000

I agree-- I'm just speculating. I imagine there has to be a fairly strong
correlation with the asset class. At the end of the day, if you can't create
a good deal flow, your returns will be sub par no matter what strategy you
have.

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:33:44 -0000

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:33:23 -0000

I think that's right

Re: Thematic vs Thesis Driven Investing

fredwilson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:31:43 -0000

It happens. But once we make an investment we try to stick with it as long as it is working