The VC GP Venn Diagram

How to Think about the 2017 Midas List

They say investors have to be good, lucky, and have money to generate returns. The Venn diagram above illustrates this.

There’s only two segments here that generate returns:

• Midas List: Congrats, you have all three attributes required to print money in VC!
• Dumb Luck: They say it’s better to be lucky than good. You’ve made some money picking winners but can you do it consistently?

Where do most investors fall in this diagram?

• Underachievers: Most investors I’ve met are pretty intelligent; it’s just really tough to outperform!
• Access to capital: People who have money, have friends with money, or are just prolific at fundraising. But without talent or luck, this is the pure form of dumb money.

Typically, you only start out with one of these attributes. If you think about this in the context of a career journey, you want to move from one to two attributes and put yourself in a position to take repeated shots to get lucky.