I spend a reasonable amount
of time on-line (or in my RSS reader) and more recently have begun to read an
increasing number of web logs. It’s a
fascinating phenomenon – a voice for everyone (although not necessarily a listener,
but more on that in another post). I
work for Mobius Venture Capital and have been interested in the emergence of
some prominent VC’s in the blog world (my boss, Brad Feld, has a very popular
and I think informative blog; other blogs, including some of the venture blogs
I read are listed here on my site). One
thing I’ve noticed is that most of the VC bloggers seem to be partners (two
notable exceptions are Ryan McIntyre and Robin Bordoli – both colleagues of
mine at Mobius). I’m not entirely sure
why this is. My initial assumption is
that those of us non-partners who work in VC are simply too busy (trying to
become partners) to put anything together; or perhaps it’s because in the world
of VC people care a lot about what partners think and say and not as much about
what the rest of us say. So I decided to
test this theory by starting a blog of my own. I’m calling it “VC Adventure (you
are in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike”) because I’m intending to muse
about the twists and turns of the VC world (points to the first person who gets
the full reference). I’d like to talk
directly about my view of the world – the triumphs and frustrations I go
through with my companies and in my firm as I try to figure out what kind of
venture capitalist I’d like to be.
I’ve been at Mobius for just
over 3 years - joining just in time for the downside of the bubble. I’ve worked with about 25 companies during my
time at Mobius – my current active investments are listed on this site. Before Mobius I worked for what turned out to
be a failed internet/datacomm company – Verado Holdings (formerly FirstWorld
Communications). I did a bunch of stuff
there (m&a; corporate development; investor relations; corporate planning),
but most importantly I had the opportunity to run a large portion of their
business (at a time when the company had decided to focus elsewhere) while I
sold them. This was a fantastic
experience – I was responsible for a 350 person, $40m business; a business that
was going through significant turmoil. I
was pretty green and certainly way over my head but leaned through the help of
some outstanding colleagues and by making lots of mistakes. Eventually these businesses were sold and I
moved on from Verado about a year before they finally shut their doors.
So . . . there you have
it. At least a small snapshot of my
business background and a perspective of what I’m hoping to accomplish by
writing this blog. There is, of course,
a lot more to me than Mobius or business – I’m a new dad; an avid reader; a rabid
mountain biker and snowboarder; etc. I’m
sure some of these topics will sneak their way into my blog from time to
time. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about
(and commenting on) my perspective on being a young VC; on business and
life.
Seth, thanks for working so hard so that Brad has time to blog and to go on vacation with me. I really appreciate it. :) Seriously, I think it's great that you're doing a blog and will be curious to read your writings about life, the universe and everything.
Posted by: Amy Batchelor | January 05, 2005 at 07:21 PM
just remember Seth, we're all going to read it to find out what you are really thinking!
Posted by: Heidi Roizen | January 05, 2005 at 09:18 PM
Get your blog on Seth! So is this just going to be VC musings, or are you going to talk about other stuff as well?
Posted by: Walker | January 06, 2005 at 09:02 AM
Look forward to reading your blog. I'm hoping that, between you and Brad, most of the deep, dark VC secrets will be unveiled. If I get the full reference (Colossal Cave adventure game?) do I get a favorable valuation on my next venture? Pretty please ;-)
Posted by: Stephen Buck | January 06, 2005 at 10:16 AM
Seth, be sure that every once in a while you mention in your blog where you are. That's why I read Brad's blog -- to find out where the heck he is. :)
Posted by: Dave Jilk | January 06, 2005 at 11:36 PM
> twisty maze
Even though I recognize the general reference (Adventure), Google makes find the specifics rather trivial.
From:
http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/d_hints/hint009.html
Oh, lucky you. You are in one of Colossal Cave's two mazes.
If you see "You are in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike," you are in the Pirate's Maze.
If you see "You are in a twisty maze of passageways, all different," you are in the Vending Machine Maze.
--
Anyways welcome to blog world, and to fatherhood, and to all the other adventures now before you. Who wants a boring life anyways.
Derek Woolverton
Technical Difficulties
Posted by: Derek | January 07, 2005 at 06:05 PM
Belated congrats on your entry to blogging! love the blog title, Seth. And thanks again for all your continued help with NewsGator.
Posted by: JB | January 19, 2005 at 05:21 PM