There's been some writing about how VCs and founders interact with each other and it inspired me to take a step back and reflect on what my role is supposed to be with regards to the investments I make and the founders I deal with.
Here's what I came up with...
First, I have a fiduciary responsibility to my investors who entrusted me with money in the first place. If I don't do right by them, then I have no money, no fund, no career, full stop. They count on me to be a good steward of their capital, and to take reasonable and appropriate risk with the expectation of a certain level of returns.
That also means that I need to act in a way that ensures my ability to get future opportunities to invest their capital in attractive deals. Rather than using my investors as an excuse to be short-sighted and screw over the first entrepreneur that works in the door, I need to balance their need for return with the long term viability and reputation of the fund and the firm. I believe that ethics and opportunity for investors will go hand in hand over the long term--and opportunity drives returns.
It also means I need to be really careful about how I'm spending my time. I want to be helpful to a lot more people than I'm able to spend time with, but I can't distract myself too much from this clear and primary mission.
Second, I am a provider of capital--so my check needs to clear and I need to be transparent about when and if I plan to invest, or if entrepreneurs should look elsewhere.
Third, I try to help my teams be the best company managers they can be--because ultimately, no matter how much help I can be, it's up to them to do most of the heavy lifting. That does not mean telling them how to run the company, but to help them create a management discipline--a framework for thinking about problems and solutions. I am there, along with other investors and board members to audit their thinking--to make sure they were considerate about the plans *they* came up with, not me.
Fourth, I am highly incentivized to provide assistance to my portfolio companies in any way that I can--whether it means connections to talent, PR, other capital, customers, etc.
Fifth, as I intend to be a long term participant in the innovation ecosystem, I have a role to support and champion the community at large. This means that it's important to me to be supportive of everyone's success, not just those I back, since it's not a zero sum game. I, along with my investors and my portfolio, will have the best chance of success when the ecosystems we participate in, especially the geographic ones, fully support high growth entrepreneurship.
Here's what I am not:
I am not necessarily an entrepreneur's friend. Granted, over the course of working together, we can become friends--and sometimes I might actually back a friend--but just because you invest money in someone's company doesn't make you friends. This is a professional relationship and we're here to grow an enterprise.
I am not an expert. Maybe ten years from now, when I've got lots more exits under my own watch, you can call me that, but for now, I consider myself a really ambitious student. I'm learning everyday and I count on founders to be the ones that bring the best insight into the problems they face in their industry. If I can provide helpful context about some of the seed stage startup best practices, great, but they know their company best.
I am not anyone but myself, or the next anyone. I'm not trying to be the next Fred Wilson, Josh Kopelman, Marc Andreeson, etc. I am creating a lifestyle and a firm that works best for my strengths and how I want to spend my time, and who I want to spend it with. I am not trying to build a big firm, employ a lot of people, or manage the most money possible. I just want to do my thing for as long as my investors and the future founders I have the opportunity to back will let me.