Code Cubitt describes running Motorola Ventures' West Coast venture program and its termination following the 2008 financial crisis.
Insight
Cubitt: Husband-and-wife founding teams rarely work out in venture-backed startups
“Rarely do husband-wife teams work out for a number of reasons, but not least of which, in our view anyway, you know, let's say that the wife is the CEO and the husband is the CTO or the CFO, You know, their direct reports are rarely gonna, you know, not gonna …”
Opinion
Cubitt: Entrepreneurship is the only way in business to create real impact
“It's the only opportunity that you can have as an individual in business to really create impact in the world. Otherwise you're an employee, part of a big machine.”
Insight
Cubitt: Consistently Picking Seed-Stage Winners Is Nearly Impossible
“So our view is that it's nearly impossible to pick winners at the seed stage. There's a lot of memory, I guess you'd say, and hard won battles that, that help guide our decision. But at the end of the day, We are humble enough to know that it's impossible to p…”
Insight
Cubitt: Only Tier-One Venture Firms Can Rely on Power-Law Returns
“Unless you're a, I'm going to call it a tier one firm who has a history of getting amazing deal flow from the best founders, it's really tough to live on the power law and expect to get a unicorn in every fund.”
Insight
Cubitt: Even equity splits fail because future dilution destroys founder motivation
“I don't actually. And so, and the reason is that at the earliest stages, you have to sort of forward look the cap table. In other words, I'm going to raise a seed and I'm going to get 20% dilution to Typically the Series A, another 20 to 30% dilution, and so o…”
Insight
Cubitt: VCs Taking Excessive Equity Destroy Founder Alignment
“At the same time, the founding team needs to have enough equity to make it worth their while. And I think some VCs have it upside down where they say, well, we're going to own all this business, but then you've lost alignment of your founder. And if you lose y…”