May your start-up get funded

and your customers be plenty

May your company be acquired

for a multiple north of 20

May good luck be with you

wherever you go

and your blessings outnumber

the shamrocks that grow!

I just returned from a week in Tahoe where I was reacquainted with fear in the truest of senses and thought how relevant overcoming it is for investors in today’s markets.  My first “uh oh” moment was when we encountered a complete white-out on the 50 while driving up to the cabin.  My wife and I had a place in Tahoe years ago when we lived in Silicon Valley so I had driven in snow storms before.  The differences this time were driving on the 50 (narrow 2-lane on a cliff) instead of the 80 and having my wife and kids in the vehicle with me.  I would have simply pulled off until it passed but I could not see the road (AT ALL) due to the conditions and the icing of my windshield and knew the “cliff” was somewhere lurking.  As I said a silent prayer, I was reminded how (for me) faith plays a big part in overcoming fear.  I did not panic.  Nor did I freeze up or suffer paralysis through analysis — I simply persevered and proceeded with caution trusting we would make it through.  One of the lessons I was reminded of during this experience, as it relates to this blog, is that an investor’s visibility if often impaired when making investment decisions.  In such situations one can only trust in the methodical, disciplined approach and make a judgment call based, at least in small part, on faith that the future will occur and that it will be positive.

My second brush with fear occurred while standing at the top of my first run since severely separating my shoulder last February while snowboarding.  My family and friends had been asking me whether I was nervous or scared most of the preceding two weeks and had been making comments such as “I can’t believe you’re going to go after what happened to you last time”.  Well, I have been snowboarding consistently for 10 years (albeit my frequency has gone from ~30 days/year to a pathetic ~3) and I was not going to let the only injury I have ever suffered (from snowboarding) set me back.  I was determined to get back on the horse.  I began my descent a bit timidly and could feel the pit of my stomach tightening up as I gained speed.  Thoughts of wiping out crept into my head and I began to question my judgment in my decision to go…and then I remembered our drive in the white-out, and many of my other experiences with fear, and a strange thing happened.  I relaxed.  I began to “feel” my way down the mountain gaining momentum the whole time until I finally reached a point where I was at ease.  Sometimes life puts obstacles in front of you so that you can overcome them.  Or not.  It really is up to you as to whether and how you proceed in such situations.  So, my advice to you entrepreneurs is to raise your money (despite the economy) and lauch your company.  Things will, eventually, improve so you should ask yourself one simply question:  what position do I want to be in when they do???  Until next time, keep the faith.

Well, in light of the past few weeks in the financial markets and all the doom and gloom being reported and pontificated upon, 2008 just may well go into the history books as the vintage year for the “Mattress Fund”.  What do I mean?  Let’s put it this way, when one of the hottest selling items at Walmart the past couple of weeks has been home safes…something is going on.  So, is this the year of the Mattress Fund???  I honestly don’t know.  What I do know, however, is that all capital markets are cyclical and what goes down will eventually go up and that time can reward patient investors.  One of my long-held beliefs is that fear and greed drive all capital markets, be they public or private, and understanding where the market is on such spectrum facilitates good investment decisions.  I also tend to subscribe to Warren Buffet’s adage of being fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful so I’m actively looking for good investments as we are clearly in “fear mode”.  There are 2 weeks left until the elections and 10 weeks left in 2008 so I don’t see much changing for the time being, but I guess that’s why they say patience is a virtue…  Until next time, happy venturing.

Wow, time sure does fly when you’re having fun…  It’s been almost a month since my last post and I’m just getting caught up from a whirlwind last few weeks that included making a new investment in the mobile sector (stay tuned), a half-dozen board meetings, a mini-vacation, and some fund administration matters.  I’ve been thinking through a few topics for my next post so I’ll get back to you when I have something worthwhile to post here.  In the interim, enjoy the summer.

For those few brave souls who check my blog daily and have been wondering where I’ve been… No, I’ve not been away on a surfari (I wish).  I’ve simply been more buried than usual on the work front, but all of the work being VERY GOOD.  Not to fear, I’ve had a fair amount of “in between time” to think through a few things so stay tuned for a more meaningful post.

A lot of you have contacted me asking about the progress of my shoulder, if you’re not one of them you can stop reading now as this post is just about my shoulder.

I suffered a level 3 AC separation of my right shoulder (see pictures below from the “slopeside ER”) on February 8th and was told the injury is one of “3s”. Specifically, 3 days before the pain becomes tolerable, 3 weeks before I can start to use that arm, and 3 months before I return to any sense of normalcy. Well, I’m happy to report that I’m ahead of schedule. I went to physical therapy for a few weeks until they “released me” to proceed on my own with the exercises they gave me to do at home. The swelling has completely gone down now such that my clavicle is significantly more pronounced, but I’m able to work through the shoulder exercises daily and have even begun to swim again (albeit, MUCH shorter distances and at a MUCH slower pace). My goal is to be back on my surfboard in time for the warmer water this summer. Until then, aloha.

After the 1st round of the NCAA basketball tournament was all said and done, turns out I was “toasted in Tampa”.  I went 0 for 4 in the games played there.  I guess I better just stick with my day-job and “pick” start-ups instead — at least I have some control over their outcomes.  Enjoy the rest of March madness.

I thought I’d share a couple thoughts with you this Friday. First, I spent a lot of time with VCs prior to becoming one myself and two “pearls of wisdom” seem to constantly come to the forefront in this industry. The first maxim is “don’t be greedy”. Venerable VCs will tell you that any time you get greedy bad things happen. The second maxim is “don’t be stupid”. This latter advice is easier said than done, to be sure, but a fair amount of this industry is predicated upon old fashion common sense. My second thought this Friday afternoon is about a different common sense — Common Sense the band. They are one of my favorite bands and, it just so happens, Rob Barnett has a nice post about them (and me) that you can check out here. While you’re visiting My Damn Channel, make sure to vote for them for this year’s YouTube awards by visiting The Night Feed and following the instructions. Until next time, exercise and listen to Common Sense.

A fellow VC just informed me that the OC Metro has an article on me/OC VC in their latest edition. You can read the article here. Not sure what it all means, but I find the media attention interesting. Enjoy!

I took a couple of weeks “off” to spend some time with my family and friends and am now just getting back in the saddle.  So, what did I do while away from the office?  It turns out that I’m never truly away from the office.  I had a number of calls and traded a fair amount of emails with my portfolio companies despite being “out”.  I guess old habits truly do die hard.  I spent the bulk of the time with my family just enjoying the holidays.  It gives them a whole new meaning when you’re able to do so through the eyes of a child…  I also managed to read a few books recommended by friends (Done Deals, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency) and even played wiffle ball yesterday for the first time in twenty something years.  In any event, I hope your holidays were happy too.