Excerpt of a YouTube video (Jason M. Lemkin, Oct 20, 2023) giving advice to operators transitioning into venture capital. Lemkin's core counsel: (1) don't "slow down" — invest in as many companies as possible early to build a track record (even at suboptimal ownership or via syndicates); (2) prioritize investing in companies whose founders/teams are better than you. The tone is practical, candid, and experience-based.
Chapters
Is there any other bits of advice that you give to operators turn VCs in their first year of transition? One, don't listen to the advice to slow it down, right? If you join a larger fund, their incentives are different than yours, right? You're new, the ball is set. They're just hoping that a large fund is hoping in the next two years you find one. One notion, that's all they care about and that you don't create a lot of drama or headaches, right? They're only looking for one. That's all they need out of adding you. So your incentives are you want 10 so that you can get a couple unicorns and get, and get your, and get your track record going. So, so invest in as many as you can. Even if you have to. Even if the ownership is suboptimal, even if you have to join a syndicate, you wouldn't want to. Even if you have to do a few. As an angel, just, just do all the good ones. And the second piece of advice is, and I think actually this is a rule I've bent over time and regret it every single time I do. They have to be better than you.
