The book I wrote with Liz Zalman has been released!
We chose an unusual format: we take specific times and events in the life of a startup, times that can cause conflict between founders and investors, and we each give our views on them.
We disagree. A lot.
We’ve gotten a lot of feedback. Some readers have asked why we don’t conclude each chapter with a unified view of how to solve the problems or address the issues. The answer, of course, is that the book isn’t meant to give the reader answers, it’s meant to help the reader understand the other side’s point of view. Simple problems have answers; complex problems require more: you have to think them through, they are ad hoc. The only way to think yourself through a problem like the ones we talk about is to be able to put yourselves in the other person’s shoes.
The other pushback I have gotten personally, is from venture capitalists. Some have objected to the airing of grievances by a founder, and Liz doesn’t pull any punches (nor does Sandy Lerner, who wrote the forward.) These complaints are more than thin skin, they come from people I respect and who are good at their jobs.
Venture capitalists are criticized from all sides: from founders who can’t raise money, from founders who raise money and then don’t agree with the VC getting involved in the business, from founders who raise money and then feel like the VC didn’t get involved in the business enough, from outsiders who think the VCs are investing in stupid ideas, from outsiders who think the VCs aren’t investing in the ideas or people they personally would prefer VCs invest in, from people who think VCs don’t make enough money for their investors, from people who think VCs make too much money, etc. This can be defeating. VCs, after all, chose this branch of finance over other branches of finance not because they thought they would make more money but because they thought they were doing something that would lead to an overall better outcome for society. (Of course they also care about making money. Everybody who has a job cares about making money.)
In the face of this criticism, you can just dismiss it. You can avoid it. You can ignore it. Or you can do what I am doing in this book and face it. The criticism isn’t going away. Do I do some of the things that people dislike about VCs? Of course. Do I have an objectively good reason for doing those things? Yes. Do you care to know it? Read the book.