The ability to make fast decisions often means the difference between good and great – this is true for both entrepreneurs and investors. At Version One, we usually know within a few days whether we should invest in a company or not. After we get this initial feeling, we can…
Running a start-up is profoundly different than running a big company. When you’re small, founders are close to the action and can make sure all the important things happen. But as a start-up scales, founders can’t have their hands in everything: many companies lose focus on the customer; decisions get…
Amazon’s Annual Letter to Shareholders has become a must-read for entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders – and the recent 2015 letter provides great insights into how Jeff Bezos thinks and how one of the most successful companies on Earth operates (this year, Amazon became the fastest company ever to reach…
We have all seen Jeff Bezos’ great quote on being stubbornly flexible at Amazon: “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details…. We don’t give up on things easily. Our third-party seller business is an example of that. It took us three tries to get the third-party seller…
When you’re in the midst of building a company, it’s hard to fully assess the significance of various activities and decisions- particularly for first-time entrepreneurs who don’t yet have the wisdom learned from prior mistakes. As an investor (who was also once a first-time entrepreneur), I have noticed several key…
