How do you do the transition from Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist?

[gambit]

How do you do the transition from Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist?

And is there a forum for Venture capitalist like this one?

[wildstormfilms]

http://www.google.com/search?q=ventu...ient=firefox-a

[gambit]

Thanks but I did that and there's no VC forums like the YE. I'm looking for a VC community forums.

If there's none, maybe I should create one.

http://www.google.com/search?q=ventu...ient=firefox-a

[David Rocci]

Most VC's are a collection of investors; oftentimes they are collections of institutional investors. Angel Networks are groups of individual investors that do basically the same thing as VC's - they invest money in different stages to start-up companies.

Most VC's have their own internal messaging systems for their members to communicate deals and analysis and to collect input from their investors. It's not a very public discussion whatsoever...

I hope you find what you are looking for...

-dr

[akula]

How do you do the transition from Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist?

And is there a forum for Venture capitalist like this one?

so is this like a legitimate question?

sure, it's common for fund managers to have an "operational background" (i.e. a track record as an entrepreneur). in other words, you'll find plenty of vc's like Brad Feld, David Cowan, David Beisel etc etc etc who started out their careers as entrepreneurs and made the switch to vc

some guys make the switch by forming a new fund of their own and becoming vc's that way (e.g. Atomico and Nick Zennström of Skype), or by joining an existing fund, either as an Entrepreneur in Residence (i.e. David Stern), or as a partner (e.g. Jeff Bussgang).

The point: a) Historically, it's almost a prerequisite for vc managers to have an entrepreneurship background. This means there is a lot of information out there with tips and hints for how to make the switch. b) That said, there's plenty of vc managers out there who do not have a startup background (e.g. Fred Wilson) and lot's of people tend to think that it's a good thing (myself included). c) At the end of the day, if the answer is important to you, I can probably give you better feedback about your query (better than this anecdotal nonsense).

[akula]

Thanks but I did that and there's no VC forums like the YE. I'm looking for a VC community forums.

If there's none, maybe I should create one.

no you probably shouldn't

no one would use it

with electronic discussions, you've just gotta be reading the right blogs, subscribing to the right newsletters and registering with the right organisation - like the yvcs

[gambit]

Thanks Akula, I'll keep that in mind. VC at Facebook is a total failure.

no you probably shouldn't

no one would use it

with electronic discussions, you've just gotta be reading the right blogs, subscribing to the right newsletters and registering with the right organisation - like the yvcs

[akula]

Thanks Akula, I'll keep that in mind. VC at Facebook is a total failure.

sure, vcexperts and xing have a pretty dismal take up as well
http://vcexperts.com/vce/community/forums/
https://www.xing.com/app/networksear...pital&button=f

forums just don't seem to be appropriate for this kind of discussion

it's not like one manager is gonna ask his competitor "what should i invest in?"

these kind of questions don't get asked in public, between strangers

[akula]

AT the end of the day, I think the best advice about transition from Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist comes from Gary Snowman the venture capitalist

[jasaunders]

Thanks for the link! That video is great

[akula]

glad you like it josh. I like it too. for me, it underscores the point that the grass is always greener yada yada

for anyone wanting to make the transition, I wanna share a story. over the last 2 years I've read probably about 50,000 posts from hundreds of vc's around the world.

out of all these posts, my favourite is Jeff Bussgang's “The Grass Is Always Greener”…aka The Circle of Envy

Anyone wanting to move into vc, would relate to Jeff's perspective

[silversurfer]

During the dotcom boom I had dinner with a venture capitalist who realized, too late, that he was going to lose his entire inheritance on this company if he didn't change things in the next two months. It was a strange conversation- full of pathos. I have no interest in being a VC.

[akula]

During the dotcom boom I had dinner with a venture capitalist who realized, too late, that he was going to lose his entire inheritance on this company if he didn't change things in the next two months. It was a strange conversation- full of pathos. I have no interest in being a VC.

I think vc would be an interesting job, except CA is the only place to do it

Only like 10% of funds at any given moment make any money. All the other venture capitalists suffer huge losses.

I would hate to be working at a fund somewhere in that 99% percent

That's my problem with vc; the gross suckiness of this asset class