The Exchanges

Q board? Is it, you know, I had a Paul Barbarian from Sphero, the toy intelligence company, and, and he sent all kind of, Board documents a day before the meeting so they could get up to date when, get up to speed with the board meeting ahead of time, and he said that was useful. How did you look to kind of integrate the board and build that internal chemistry?

A Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is really getting to know someone before you put them on your board, and sometimes you do have to do that in an uncomfortably quick time frame, but if it's so uncomfortably quick that you don't have a chance to Get to know them a little bit as a human being. You're just taking risks, and you can do that in, you know, a month if you have to, but to do it in a week without really, you know, breaking bread, understanding what makes the person tick, understand, you know, just kind of understand the way everyone operates, I think is challenging, and if you have the opportunity, and I, I had the good fortune of doing this as a founder, and I advise a lot of my founders to do this, to months or even years before you may pull someone onto the board, just begin getting to know them without any agenda, That's best. My board member was Mark Suster, who's now my partner, and he and I got to know each other when I moved to LA nine years ago. So five years before he joined my board, we got to know each other, and we started really getting to know each other, and I got to know him. I got to know his wife. I mean, so we really knew each other at a deep level. The other person who was pretty involved with my company at the time and became an observer was Dana Settle, who was another, you know, kind of partner at a fund, and she's also someone that I got to …

AI assessment note: “the first thing is really getting to know someone before you put them on your board”

Q board? Is it, you know, I had a Paul Barbarian from Sphero, the toy intelligence company, and, and he sent all kind of, Board documents a day before the meeting so they could get up to date when, get up to speed with the board meeting ahead of time, and he said that was useful. How did you look to kind of integrate the board and build that internal chemistry?

A Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is really getting to know someone before you put them on your board, and sometimes you do have to do that in an uncomfortably quick time frame, but if it's so uncomfortably quick that you don't have a chance to Get to know them a little bit as a human being. You're just taking risks, and you can do that in, you know, a month if you have to, but to do it in a week without really, you know, breaking bread, understanding what makes the person tick, understand, you know, just kind of understand the way everyone operates, I think is challenging, and if you have the opportunity, and I, I had the good fortune of doing this as a founder, and I advise a lot of my founders to do this, to months or even years before you may pull someone onto the board, just begin getting to know them without any agenda, That's best. My board member was Mark Suster, who's now my partner, and he and I got to know each other when I moved to LA nine years ago. So five years before he joined my board, we got to know each other, and we started really getting to know each other, and I got to know him. I got to know his wife. I mean, so we really knew each other at a deep level. The other person who was pretty involved with my company at the time and became an observer was Dana Settle, who was another, you know, kind of partner at a fund, and she's also someone that I got to …

AI assessment note: “I think the first thing is really getting to know someone before you put them on your board”

Q kind of alleviate that down Downness within, within operations. So talk to me about kind of where you allocate your time amongst your portfolio in terms of, do you spend the majority of your time with those that are struggling? I've heard other VCs who spend the majority of their time with the kind of unicorns of their portfolio to ensure the outsized returns. How do you categorize your time?

A Uh, yeah, that's a good question. I spend the most time with the companies that I feel, where I feel like I can make the most impact, and then I, I certainly have a psychological impact. Connection to all of my companies, so I probably disproportionately spend time with companies who need it when they need it, and I believe strongly that the world, the way the world changes, the way the world looks at any given moment in time for a particular startup can change pretty dramatically over the course of months and years, so companies that may look like your potential unicorn right this second, and companies that look like, wow, they may, they may not figure it out, can often flip-flop, and I think Sort of the perspective I have really from my early days at Battery gave, yeah, I mean, my early days at Battery gave me that perspective because there were companies that people had written off and were literally given to me to babysit in a nice way where everyone has to manage their time, and there wasn't too much to do, and you just needed somebody who was kind of going to stay on top of the numbers and, and move things through as they needed to, but I mean, one of those companies literally ended up going public, and so I've always been sort of, you know, I, I think a lot of time goes into this question around How much of the VC value is in the picking versus the doing, and, and I, I d…

AI assessment note: “I probably disproportionately spend time with companies who need it when they need it”

Q about founder psychology. Having, having been both a founder and a VC now, I'd love to hear how you kind of assess founder psychology. You've said before you think you know someone and then you realize they're so different. So how do you look to kind of assess them in that pre- And then post-investment stage, and how does that kind of process look for you in terms of psychoanalysis?

A Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I, I look for a few things, and, and, you know, sometimes we get them right, and sometimes we get it wrong, but one, I, I really like to understand that person's story, what's led them to this point, why are they doing this, what drives them, what motivates them, and I like to work with founders that, that are attached to what they're doing for a reason that's really You know, kind of a part of a path that makes sense as opposed to, you know, kind of, I was dying to be an entrepreneur, any entrepreneur, and I, you know, been kind of stumbled into this, but I may stumble out of it pretty quickly. And, uh, by the way, there are a lot of great companies that have emerged that way, but I, I really like to understand their story and their path and what's gotten them here. And, you know, that's one. I also like to understand, and even if they're, by the way, I mean, sometimes first time founders straight out of college, dropped out of college, You can still learn a lot from somebody by, you know, what do you do in high school? What do you do in college? Like, tell me about your family. I mean, those sorts of things. And there's no one right answer. I just like to, you know, I just like to learn about sort of what drives and motivates people and, you know, where the, whether or not they've had a resilient moment, how they move through hard times, how they dea…

AI assessment note: “I really like to understand that person's story, what's led them to this point”

Q Do you think you can ever be too close to a board member? Is there a barrier that the professional personal line or you said about kind of going out with the significant other? Is there kind of a too friendly?

A Oh, yeah, I think so. I think it really is. I think you have to make sure if you are taking on the responsibility of becoming a board member to a company that you're always putting the business first. You're not worried about offending someone personally. You get everything on that, you know, up front, Well understood. But I don't think getting to know, you know, I don't think, for example, having a meal with the person's significant other is too friendly. It's an important, it often is an important decision and person in that other person's life. And most entrepreneurs also devote their lives to these things. And I think it's helpful for that person, for the founder to, to have the approval of the person, the other major person in their life that, that this is someone that they think they should do business with. So, I mean, it's, I just, I feel like Founders should do as much diligence on investors as investors do on founders, depending upon the power dynamic and the round dynamic when an investor comes in. It may not seem to the founder like they have a lot of options, or they may have a ton of options, but either way, I think sort of just going into it with open eyes and, and, and understanding the way your investor ticks is going to be really important as well, and I think probably not enough founders spend the time really Understanding their VC, you know, I probably didn'…

AI assessment note: “Oh, yeah, I think so. I think it really is.”

Q kind of alleviate that down Downness within, within operations. So talk to me about kind of where you allocate your time amongst your portfolio in terms of, do you spend the majority of your time with those that are struggling? I've heard other VCs who spend the majority of their time with the kind of unicorns of their portfolio to ensure the outsized returns. How do you categorize your time?

A Uh, yeah, that's a good question. I spend the most time with the companies that I feel, where I feel like I can make the most impact, and then I, I certainly have a psychological impact. Connection to all of my companies, so I probably disproportionately spend time with companies who need it when they need it, and I believe strongly that the world, the way the world changes, the way the world looks at any given moment in time for a particular startup can change pretty dramatically over the course of months and years, so companies that may look like your potential unicorn right this second, and companies that look like, wow, they may, they may not figure it out, can often flip-flop, and I think Sort of the perspective I have really from my early days at Battery gave, yeah, I mean, my early days at Battery gave me that perspective because there were companies that people had written off and were literally given to me to babysit in a nice way where everyone has to manage their time, and there wasn't too much to do, and you just needed somebody who was kind of going to stay on top of the numbers and, and move things through as they needed to, but I mean, one of those companies literally ended up going public, and so I've always been sort of, you know, I, I think a lot of time goes into this question around How much of the VC value is in the picking versus the doing, and, and I, I d…

AI assessment note: “disproportionately spend time with companies who need it when they need it”

Q Well, I will send you the data. A final question then for the quickfire is what more can be done? What do you think we can do to, to further increase the equality?

A Well, look, I think there's a bunch of things that are being done and there's more that can be done. I think one thing, you know, one thing that can be done is, is for all of us just to continue to allow more people to try to do good and make changes and allow them to fail and make mistakes, whether they're talking about Women in VC, women founders, et cetera. We want our male advocates and, you know, kind of anyone who's trying to come into the conversation and do good not to be afraid. And I think not to be afraid to make a mistake if they're hiring a female partner or they're funding a female VC or they're even just talking about the topic. And so I think, you know, kind of making the people across the board who are trying to make change feel good is, is important and to be supportive and to create, you know, kind of a positive, Discourse around it. That's one, and that's just something to remember when we're all in our social media trolling mode and trying to crucify people who maybe are just trying to put a voice out there and may be afraid to speak. Of course, the ones that are saying evil things, you know, that's a different story entirely. That's one. Two, I think things like the board list and other initiatives, like what, what many of the public boards are doing just to get more and more women at the board level. I think that's the fastest place to make change, gettin…

AI assessment note: “things like the board list and other initiatives... to get more and more women”

Q Do you think you can ever be too close to a board member? Is there a barrier that the professional personal line or you said about kind of going out with the significant other? Is there kind of a too friendly?

A Oh, yeah, I think so. I think it really is. I think you have to make sure if you are taking on the responsibility of becoming a board member to a company that you're always putting the business first. You're not worried about offending someone personally. You get everything on that, you know, up front, Well understood. But I don't think getting to know, you know, I don't think, for example, having a meal with the person's significant other is too friendly. It's an important, it often is an important decision and person in that other person's life. And most entrepreneurs also devote their lives to these things. And I think it's helpful for that person, for the founder to, to have the approval of the person, the other major person in their life that, that this is someone that they think they should do business with. So, I mean, it's, I just, I feel like Founders should do as much diligence on investors as investors do on founders, depending upon the power dynamic and the round dynamic when an investor comes in. It may not seem to the founder like they have a lot of options, or they may have a ton of options, but either way, I think sort of just going into it with open eyes and, and, and understanding the way your investor ticks is going to be really important as well, and I think probably not enough founders spend the time really Understanding their VC, you know, I probably didn'…

AI assessment note: “Oh, yeah, I think so. I think it really is.”

Q about founder psychology. Having, having been both a founder and a VC now, I'd love to hear how you kind of assess founder psychology. You've said before you think you know someone and then you realize they're so different. So how do you look to kind of assess them in that pre- And then post-investment stage, and how does that kind of process look for you in terms of psychoanalysis?

A Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I, I look for a few things, and, and, you know, sometimes we get them right, and sometimes we get it wrong, but one, I, I really like to understand that person's story, what's led them to this point, why are they doing this, what drives them, what motivates them, and I like to work with founders that, that are attached to what they're doing for a reason that's really You know, kind of a part of a path that makes sense as opposed to, you know, kind of, I was dying to be an entrepreneur, any entrepreneur, and I, you know, been kind of stumbled into this, but I may stumble out of it pretty quickly. And, uh, by the way, there are a lot of great companies that have emerged that way, but I, I really like to understand their story and their path and what's gotten them here. And, you know, that's one. I also like to understand, and even if they're, by the way, I mean, sometimes first time founders straight out of college, dropped out of college, You can still learn a lot from somebody by, you know, what do you do in high school? What do you do in college? Like, tell me about your family. I mean, those sorts of things. And there's no one right answer. I just like to, you know, I just like to learn about sort of what drives and motivates people and, you know, where the, whether or not they've had a resilient moment, how they move through hard times, how they dea…

AI assessment note: “I really like to understand that person's story, what's led them to this point”

Q Well, I will send you the data. A final question then for the quickfire is what more can be done? What do you think we can do to, to further increase the equality?

A Well, look, I think there's a bunch of things that are being done and there's more that can be done. I think one thing, you know, one thing that can be done is, is for all of us just to continue to allow more people to try to do good and make changes and allow them to fail and make mistakes, whether they're talking about Women in VC, women founders, et cetera. We want our male advocates and, you know, kind of anyone who's trying to come into the conversation and do good not to be afraid. And I think not to be afraid to make a mistake if they're hiring a female partner or they're funding a female VC or they're even just talking about the topic. And so I think, you know, kind of making the people across the board who are trying to make change feel good is, is important and to be supportive and to create, you know, kind of a positive, Discourse around it. That's one, and that's just something to remember when we're all in our social media trolling mode and trying to crucify people who maybe are just trying to put a voice out there and may be afraid to speak. Of course, the ones that are saying evil things, you know, that's a different story entirely. That's one. Two, I think things like the board list and other initiatives, like what, what many of the public boards are doing just to get more and more women at the board level. I think that's the fastest place to make change, gettin…

AI assessment note: “one thing that can be done is, is for all of us just to continue”

Q twenty-five-year-old board member to being, say, a thirty-four-year-old operator, say, and having that experience both on both sides of the table with boards, what do you really think makes a great board member? And then a kind of really personal question for me is, at such a young age, 24, 25, how did you generate the respect from the founders that you deserved when, when you did have Little experience.

A Yeah, no, great question. In terms of what makes a great board member, I, I, I think there are a lot of different profiles of great board members, and a whole lot of it depends on the chemistry that you have as a board member with the founder. I think this is a mistake a lot of people make as founders, which is to try to get the biggest names or something that they think is sort of like a brand of a particular board member without really Doing a lot of work to make sure that you have the right chemistry with that person, that you have a lot of mutual respect, that you like the way they give you feedback, because the, you know, the best board members, I think, are people who alternate between pushing you in ways that are sometimes a little bit uncomfortable, and also then flipping and being your biggest supporter and fan, and helping, you know, kind of build your brand to the external world in a very credible way, so a lot of that really comes down to Your chemistry with that person, and then as you build, you know, the board over time, a lot of it, you know, is sort of how do you build a chemistry of a board, and how do you make sure this is not a bunch of people, you know, trying to show off and add value, but where people are really thoughtful about where and how they add value. So I don't, I don't think there's one right way, and I'm happy to go deeper on, on the topic, you …

AI assessment note: “In terms of what makes a great board member, I, I, I think”

Q twenty-five-year-old board member to being, say, a thirty-four-year-old operator, say, and having that experience both on both sides of the table with boards, what do you really think makes a great board member? And then a kind of really personal question for me is, at such a young age, 24, 25, how did you generate the respect from the founders that you deserved when, when you did have Little experience.

A Yeah, no, great question. In terms of what makes a great board member, I, I, I think there are a lot of different profiles of great board members, and a whole lot of it depends on the chemistry that you have as a board member with the founder. I think this is a mistake a lot of people make as founders, which is to try to get the biggest names or something that they think is sort of like a brand of a particular board member without really Doing a lot of work to make sure that you have the right chemistry with that person, that you have a lot of mutual respect, that you like the way they give you feedback, because the, you know, the best board members, I think, are people who alternate between pushing you in ways that are sometimes a little bit uncomfortable, and also then flipping and being your biggest supporter and fan, and helping, you know, kind of build your brand to the external world in a very credible way, so a lot of that really comes down to Your chemistry with that person, and then as you build, you know, the board over time, a lot of it, you know, is sort of how do you build a chemistry of a board, and how do you make sure this is not a bunch of people, you know, trying to show off and add value, but where people are really thoughtful about where and how they add value. So I don't, I don't think there's one right way, and I'm happy to go deeper on, on the topic, you …

AI assessment note: “depends on the chemistry that you have as a board member with the founder”