'failure' Tag
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Procrastination, doubt, and other good entrepreneurial habits
September 29, 2016Professor of management and psychology Adam Grant released a new book entitled Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. He’s currently researching the qualities of some of the greatest innovators and original thinkers in history — Grant calls them ‘Originals’. Citing the likes of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Frank Lloyd Wright, Grant found that great innovators […]
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Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em
December 10, 2013During a panel at a tech conference several years back, a seasoned and respected French early-stage VC that I will not name boasted about how he (of course it’s a ‘he’) had never had a portfolio company go bankrupt. Needless to say, this remark was an eyebrow-raiser for me about France’s venture capital sector. My […]
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Failing successfully
March 20, 2011Of my three legitimate startups, two of them were undeniable failures. The first proved a disaster: I was inexperienced, arrogant, and in denial. All of my investors lost their money, and I even lost a girlfriend on the way. My second entrepreneurial endeavour was a modest success, laying the groundwork for my third startup which […]
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Bankruptcies and the French VC Model
February 9, 2010Nic Brisbourne crafted a clear and cogent post yesterday about the economics of venture capital. Nic also references a similar blog post citing Bill Bryant, a former entrepreneur and now one of DFJ’s US venture partners. To be (almost unfairly) succinct, the VC model as practiced by the DFJ US is “for every 10 deals […]
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Top 10 List: Entrepreneurial traits in France
January 10, 2010George W. was only partially wrong when he inquired into the French equivalent of the word ‘entrepreneur’. Obviously, the word is the same in both languages. But is the definition? Here’s what I would consider to be the top 10 qualities I find attractive in an entrepreneur that is starting a business in France. This […]