Jeff Horing

I think the human in the loop still matters.

That's our belief.

Entrepreneurs aren't just going to react to the first email they get from you.

So the fact that you think XYZ company's super hot doesn't mean they're going to return your phone call.

I'll have analysts give you stories of 25 phone calls, a couple FedExes, and then landing on somebody's street corner begging to take a meeting.

It's hard sometimes to get the attention of somebody who's successful, especially in today's world where there's probably 50 more firms reaching out to that individual.

We've shifted from a world where capital was a little bit more in power.

It wasn't perfect in even the 90s.

It was already shifting.

But today, clearly the entrepreneur has got lots of choice and we're very sensitized to that choice and really want to make sure that we meet that.

My management style, which is not very good, but can be very effective for the right people is to throw you in the water and just say swim.

We have a much better training program right now.

So thankfully, I have some of the folks that have come through the sourcing program that are still with me have been able to institutionalize some of the lessons to get people up the curve quickly.

But within a few months, you've learned what you can learn from the system.

You're learning from your peers.

But at the end of the day, no one tells you, go call XYZ.

You have to kind of sort this out yourself.

You hear, you listen.

Maybe your partner that you work with is giving you some advice on industries that they're intrigued by.

But it's a lot of trial by error and learning and different folks pick it up in different ways.