Venture Capital Desperately Needs More Poetry
An ode to Global Corporate Venturing’s New York Synergize conference in Shakespearean iambic pentameter
At the end of September, my business partner David Horowitz once again co-chaired the Global Corporate Venturing Synergize conference in New York with Darcy Frisch from Hearst Ventures. The one day event focuses on sharing best practices for corporate venture capitalists, with a mix of keynotes, breakout sessions, networking, and case studies.
The Synergize case studies feature experienced venture capitalists exploring various aspects of the business, including how to launch a new corporate venture capital unit, how to work with traditional institutional investors, how to measure the strategic value of venture investments, how to drive mutual value from limited partner positions and direct investments, and so on. The speakers included a diverse group of investors, like Esther Dyson, Jaidev Shergill, Jenny Fielding, Bimal Mehta, Gus Warren, and many others.
Last year, David thought it would be fun if I summarized the presentations and provided simple take-aways in less than one minute each. I decided to increase the degree of difficulty by writing a summary haiku for each of these presentations, which can be found here.
This year, David and Darcy summarized the case studies, but I felt considerable peer pressure to contribute something poetic. So with no further ado, and heartfelt apologies to Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18, here is my TL;DR recap of GCV Synergize 2019:
Shall I compare thee to Sand Hill VCs?
Thou art more complex and more corporate:
Rough terms do shake the leads of Series Bs,
And promises doth make some hesitate:
Sometime too high when valuations climb,
And often venture’s gold’s seen as a moat;
The public bell will not be heard to chime,
By chance, nor skill, the green shoe ne’er the float;
But thy bull headed market shall not fade
Nor lose possession of securities;
Nor shall down rounds be cause for throwing shade,
When benefits commercial thou doth ease;
So long as dreams portend a unicorn,
So thus can innovations yet be born.
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Scott Lenet is President of Touchdown Ventures, a Registered Investment Adviser that provides “Venture Capital as a Service” to help corporations launch and manage their investment programs.
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