Startup Investing Quotes

I focus on consumer Internet. Sometimes it's a working prototype; sometimes it's an idea on a napkin. I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.

For me, seed investing isn't just a good return area but a big part of how we network in Silicon Valley. A lot of our best deals have come from being active in the seed stage.

I am retiring from startup investing. It's hard to leave all this behind right when things are going so well.

I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.

The idea of investing in entrepreneurs who are building things from scratch, where I can participate in their dream, was very, very exciting to me.

I've had a very good stretch with startup investing, and I think it's very important to know when to hold your chips.

When I first started as an angel investor, I was excited to start investing in startups - but I didn't know much. I couldn't tell the good ones from the bad; I didn't understand all these venture capital terms, so I would invest somewhat blindly.

We always saw ourselves in careers as entrepreneurs or angels.

My venture investing career has three phases, all roughly 6-8 years long. The first, at Euclid, was software to Internet. The second, at Flatiron, was Internet to bubble. And the third, at USV, has been web 2 to mobile. I have always used a new firm to denote a new investment phase for me. Throw away the old. Start with the new.

When you're an actor who just got his first big chunk of change, and you're like, 'What do I do with it?' you try to look at Silicon Valley, and the learning curve is so huge. Especially on the investor side. I don't want to say it's like Vegas, in a sense, but you do kinda roll the dice on some companies. It's like educated dice rolling.

Startup investing is one of my things, but it is not my everything.

I think the mistake people make most often when they invest in other kinds of startups is they say, 'This is totally different.' And so the things that matter, like making a product that people desperately want, like talking to customers, they throw this out the window. That is a recipe for heartache and tears.

I started to invest in very-early-stage companies where, even though I wasn't the founder, I could help shape the early strategy and culture.

I hired a guy named David Sze to do consumer investing at Greylock. And he went on to invest in Facebook and LinkedIn. So I guess I did something right.

The stage of investing that I do is seed stage, so it's really early. Here's a pair of founders who maybe have a prototype. They have a little bit of traction, maybe one employee, tops. At that stage, you really, really can only evaluate a company based on those founders and what they've been able to build. It's very, very team driven.

If I had a do over, I'd indubitably start investing in startups earlier in life!