Why ADD Might Actually Benefit Startup Entrepreneurs

This weekend I was reading the NY Times online and I came across this excellent piece about ADHD written by Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry. In the article the author talks about the condition of the brain — which…

Why You Don’t Want to Give Financial Information to All of Your Investors

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We all can intuit the benefits to founders of…

Why I Look for Obsessive and Competitive Founders

Obsession. The drive to succeed at all costs. When second place isn’t good enough because we live in winner-take-most markets. The desire to be better than anybody else in one’s field.

In Defense of Uber: An Objective Opinion

The story on Uber has been written about ad nauseam, which is why I’ve been reluctant to weigh in. But enough people have asked my perspective so I decided to weigh in with my non-conformist view. I love Uber and I don’t believe there has yet been a real…

The Very First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in is You

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest.

I had been thinking a lot about this recently because I’m often asked the…

Why Entrepreneurs Should Be Respected More Than Loved

How VCs Think About Adding New Partners

Let me start with the news that I’m excited to share with you. After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately.

The Case for Optimism and Risk at Startups

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam, led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry, announced a $10 million round of financing. The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology —…

The Silent Killer — The Company Your Community Never Created

I was at a dinner recently in Chicago and the table discussion was about building great companies outside of Silicon Valley. Of course this can be done and of course I am a big proponent of the rise of startup centers across…