Insights from San Fran
I just returned from a trip to San Francisco, Menlo Park/Palo Alto, and Mountain View with fellow classmates at Harvard Business School. Our small group had a fantastic opportunity to have some personal interactions with top Venture Capitalists in the area, where we were able to ask challenging questions and gain insights on the state of the industry and VC’s investment philosophies.
As a former advisors Associate, I wanted to share some thoughts on common messages and personal takeaways that I gathered from the trip.
Notice the emphasis on team; if you don’t have the skills yourself, surround yourself with advisors who can round out the team. All VCs talked about “the start-up CEO”, “the $1M-$10M revenue CEO,” and the “late-stage growth CEO” — all different individuals with different sets of skills. Don’t take it personally if a VC suggests that a different person is right for the job. Don’t let ego get in the way of your business’ success.
I have many more observations but I think this is the longest MaRS blog I’ve seen so I’ll stop there.
On a closing note, I would highly recommend to all entrepreneurs to keep your passports fresh with new stamps: go travel the world, see what innovation exists in other markets, speak to customers in your industry, attend conferences and bring your innovative ideas back to Canada.