Early in my VC career, I’ll never forget a piece of criticism that I received from my boss at the time (in that inimitably well-intentioned French manner). He told me that I hesitate too long to make investment decisions because I’m waiting for complete and perfect information. That stung, mainly because it was accurate.

Venture investing is impossible to do successfully absent a willingness to pull the trigger on a deal in the context of incomplete information. It appears obvious when put here in writing, but innovation involves uncertainty. Early-stage companies do not have all the answers.

Granted, decision-making with incomplete information is uncomfortable. Becoming comfortable to embrace uncertainty, especially when it involves investing other people’s money, takes time. It is perfectly understandable that new VCs — and CVCs for that matter — often defer investment decisions into early-stage companies until substantial validation comes in.

The problem with this behavior is that it does a disservice to entrepreneurs. Dragging out a fundraising effort robs the founder of precious time and focus to build their ambition. It handicaps their startup’s odds of success even further.

Such reluctance to invest in an unproven early-stage company where there are more questions than answers is not unusual in a nascent startup ecosystem. However, for the ecosystem to progress, venture capitalists must learn to become more comfortable with embracing uncertainty. Assess the opportunity within a reasonable amount of time, make the investment decision – be it Go or No Go – and move on.

Live in the future

One of the most inspiring company builders I know says, “Our job in technology is to live in the future.” This is especially true for VCs.

Waiting for complete information before investing into a startup is not living in the future. It is living in the past, actually.