Comments on: Lessons From Silicon Valley VC Legend Don Valentine

By: Eddie

Eddie — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:18:20 +0000

Well well Boscoe, I don’t see you rolling any dice so you’re certainly not helping to progress the world forward. If we didn’t have any dice rollers then where would we be? Anyway, you’re clearly an idiot to say that any VC including Don knows nothing (are you one of those all-or-none simpletons)? As this article reflects, Don did have some knowledge about the direction the world was heading due to his work at Fairchild and there is something to be said about people who can pick up on trends and then roll dice on the trend line. Btw I don’t see you taking any risks to change the world by rolling dice. If it were not for Sequoia and their co-investors along with the vision of Jibs I wouldn’t be typing this reply on an iPad in a cafe. Please make your comments more productive (it’s quite clear that you and fellow commentor AJ have some sour grapes – air your dirty laundry somewhere else).

By: Eddie

Eddie — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:06:52 +0000

Ah AJ do you know the difference between the market (opportunity) and a business model?

By: Don Boscoe

Don Boscoe — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:57:53 +0000

I dont think any VC including Don knows anything. It is a simple game of chance/dice. Roll the dice and 1 in 10 investments will be big. This is a well researched and documented topic at Stanford and Harvard business schools as well as other schools. So don’t listen to his BS, he is just saying stuff to make himself look smart.

By: aj

aj — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:36:28 +0000

I’ve personally heard at least one other Sequoia partner the exact opposite: invest in team first, then market. Often a start-up’s focus or business model change in the first year or two. If the VC were truly investing in the market first they would be unlikely to give the founders such leeway.

By: Mathew Ingram

Mathew Ingram — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:26:44 +0000

He may not have mentioned that, but I don’t think it changes the points he was trying to make all that much. Thanks for the comment though.

By: les madras

les madras — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 03:06:01 +0000

He conveniently forgets to mention that Sequoia tried hard to get its money out of Google in 1999.