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Written by Carl Weissman
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Wednesday, March 02, 2011 |
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My wife and daughter (teenager) are addicted to American Idol. Ironically, so is at least one of my CEO’s…
A few nights ago on Idol (yes, I can learn the lingo even though I am apparently old and strict and not cool…), when the men were singing as the final twelve, the constant complaint from the judges was that they sang their songs as if they were “karaoke” not bringing anything original to their covers.
Well, duh.
That is what they are instructed to do. That is what they get rewarded for up to that point.
So how does this relate to the venture capital world? You are kidding me, right?
I have been in venture-backed companies or have worked for venture capital firms for 16 years, and if I had a nickel for every time that someone was given credit for having “been there, done that,” or the number of CEO candidates who either had successful notches in their belt or were guys that trained under those CEO’s and who…”mouthed those words”…(definition of Karaoke)…
Unfortunately, it seems that novelty and innovation, even at the management level, is no longer valued and backed in the biotech sector by the venture capital market.
Well, if I had all of those nickels, I would have more return than ANY venture capitalist in the life sciences and biotech has made since 2000. By a lot. And I would have at least enough for a $2 Exacta Box at Del Mar…
It is time to think differently. And it is time to reward not only innovation at the technology level, but also technology and innovation at the management level. There may not be much room to innovate in the LP/GP relationship, but there is certainly a great deal of room to innovate and “think out of the box” at the VC/company management interface.
We need to stop with VC Karaoke, and start to re-examine the structures of investments, management, and technology milestones. And I know for a fact that many in the venture capital community agree with me. I hope that in the coming days, weeks, and months, they will voice their opinions in this forum and others. Because while they agree with me that change is needed, they don’t agree on what those changes need to be.
And that discourse and difference is WAY MORE constructive than VC Karaoke.
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Good analogy - what do you think the changes should look like? How would you prioritize them?