Mark Goldberg

And back to the point of what can a VC do to be helpful, showing people what great looks like, one, two, three stages in front of where they are, and giving them a way to evaluate where their team is relative to that, I think is a very helpful thing. And the folks that I've seen take longer to get from that one to 10, 10 to 100,

And back to the point of what can a VC do to be helpful, showing people what great looks like, one, two, three stages in front of where they are, and giving them a way to evaluate where their team is relative to that, I think is a very helpful thing. And the folks that I've seen take longer to get from that one to 10, 10 to 100,

are the folks that tend to make the wrong decisions around hiring in their leadership teams. And by the way, I'm very bullish on their leaders. And I can give you examples that have scaled from the early days all the way to an exit. It's unusual, but it's possible.

are the folks that tend to make the wrong decisions around hiring in their leadership teams. And by the way, I'm very bullish on their leaders. And I can give you examples that have scaled from the early days all the way to an exit. It's unusual, but it's possible.

are the folks that tend to make the wrong decisions around hiring in their leadership teams. And by the way, I'm very bullish on their leaders. And I can give you examples that have scaled from the early days all the way to an exit. It's unusual, but it's possible.

But I think having a way to give founders a sense of this is what great looks like for your stage and these functions that you might not have seen before is a very important thing for them.

But I think having a way to give founders a sense of this is what great looks like for your stage and these functions that you might not have seen before is a very important thing for them.

But I think having a way to give founders a sense of this is what great looks like for your stage and these functions that you might not have seen before is a very important thing for them.

First-time founders. I think the ability to think from a clean slate to do potentially foolish, but on the other side, potentially visionary and transformative things, the hunger, the naivety that you described in a first-time founder, I think outweigh a lot of the benefits of having seen the show from one, two, three times in the past. There are caveats.

First-time founders. I think the ability to think from a clean slate to do potentially foolish, but on the other side, potentially visionary and transformative things, the hunger, the naivety that you described in a first-time founder, I think outweigh a lot of the benefits of having seen the show from one, two, three times in the past. There are caveats.

First-time founders. I think the ability to think from a clean slate to do potentially foolish, but on the other side, potentially visionary and transformative things, the hunger, the naivety that you described in a first-time founder, I think outweigh a lot of the benefits of having seen the show from one, two, three times in the past. There are caveats.

I love founders that have tried and not broken through with a first business. So a founder who feels like they gave it a shot but ended in a place that they weren't happy with and they have a chip on their shoulder, I think is a great profile.

I love founders that have tried and not broken through with a first business. So a founder who feels like they gave it a shot but ended in a place that they weren't happy with and they have a chip on their shoulder, I think is a great profile.

I love founders that have tried and not broken through with a first business. So a founder who feels like they gave it a shot but ended in a place that they weren't happy with and they have a chip on their shoulder, I think is a great profile.

A founder who has done so well that, you know, they are financially independent or they might not have the same level of hunger that they brought to the first business. I'm less excited about that.

A founder who has done so well that, you know, they are financially independent or they might not have the same level of hunger that they brought to the first business. I'm less excited about that.

A founder who has done so well that, you know, they are financially independent or they might not have the same level of hunger that they brought to the first business. I'm less excited about that.

If they want an established brand that's been around for 30 to 50 years. Do you think that's still worthy? I think different founders want different things. You know, you and I talked about earlier in the conversation, a founder that is coming new to Silicon Valley that really wants the validation of an established fund that's been around, we're probably not a great fit for.

If they want an established brand that's been around for 30 to 50 years. Do you think that's still worthy? I think different founders want different things. You know, you and I talked about earlier in the conversation, a founder that is coming new to Silicon Valley that really wants the validation of an established fund that's been around, we're probably not a great fit for.

If they want an established brand that's been around for 30 to 50 years. Do you think that's still worthy? I think different founders want different things. You know, you and I talked about earlier in the conversation, a founder that is coming new to Silicon Valley that really wants the validation of an established fund that's been around, we're probably not a great fit for.