Blogposts
How Family Businesses and VC Backed Startups Face Similar Boardroom Challenges
Family businesses have a lot in common with venture capital (VC) backed companies. First, they are led by passionate, inspired individuals, their founders, who are determined to challenge the low odds of success for their new venture in order to realize their vision …
Read more … How Family Businesses and VC Backed Startups Face Similar Boardroom Challenges
Unintended Consequences: When SAFE and Convertible Notes Go Awry
Andrew Krowne and I recently co-wrote an article in Tech Crunch, Why SAFE Notes Are Not Safe for Entrepreneurs. We’ve received numerous constructive comments, both privately and on social media, from attorneys, VCs, and CEOs who are well aware of the problem (including several who are experiencing it in real time).
This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. But it is also a topic that many find esoteric and difficult to grasp …
Read more … Unintended Consequences: When SAFE and Convertible Notes Go Awry
Governance Models That Don’t Scale: The World According to Charles T. Munger and Jean Jacques Rousseau
Can you name five benign dictators who have ruled successfully for any meaningful period of time (non-fiction)? Can you name five successful, long serving CEO’s (excluding Warren Buffett) whose governance histories are free of the “high-beta” associated with outliers such as Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs?
It’s not easy. Why? Because enlightened dictators and their corporate CEO equivalents are very, very rare; maintaining immunity to the intoxicating effects of power challenges basic human nature.
