The Future of Technology VC is Now in Research Triangle
I will be engaging in a friendly debate with Don Dodge, Microsoft, on Thursday, as we take to the Research Triangle high-tech stage together, along with Eric Auchard, Reuters, at the Council for Entrepreneurial Development Tech 2007 conference in North Carolina to address “Technology Trends of Today and Tommorrow.”
Focused aroud “The Tech Demo Room” where 40 Southeast-based breakout companies in the making will showcase the newest entrepreneurial applications in med tech, digital media, mobile communications, clean tech, IT security, and more, Don, Eric and I will wrap up the day with a high-level look at what is working now, and what will or will not be leading edge over the next five to ten years.
When you are rasing money, selling a customer, or tyring to get a deal done, it is the long drawn out process that never ends that will kill you, It is the same thing with startups. Being successful is always the goal, but if it is going to fail, fail fast.
In good co-panelist fashion, however, my counterpoint is the old adage, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
In other words, perserverence is perhaps the greatest asset an entrepreneur can have, as successful web 1.0 entrepreneur Steven Krein attested to in launching his new Web 2.0 venture last week at the NY Tech Meetup, OrganizedWisdom Health.
Krein recalled his orginal Web glory days: 1996 Co-founder and CEO of the first Internet promotion technology company, Promotions.com, which went public on NASDAQ in 1999 and was acquired by iVilage in 2002.
When asked at the tech meetup for the single most valuable lesson he had for startups, Krein advised that perserverance is easily the greatest asset an entrepreneur in the making can have. Krein shared that he had personally made the rounds of 1000 funding sources, and recieved 1000 NOs before a yes. For Krein, the greuling investment process helped him refine and focus his product and business model so that it evolved into a success-prone venture.
Sometimes, in the entrepreneurial process, “all we have to fear is fear itself.”