A little over a year ago, through some luck and hustle, I joined Brett and Jonathon full-time at Ludlow Ventures — an early stage technology focused venture firm. Over the course of the past year, I’ve done my best to document some of the most important lessons I’ve learned.
Reputation Is Your Most Valuable Asset
Like most jobs, in the venture capital industry, you are only as good as your reputation. This is, perhaps, one of the most obvious aspects of the venture capital industry; however, it is extremely difficult to earn. In my opinion, there are only two ways you can improve your reputation: brand and proprietary network.
Reputation is, ultimately, what enables you to see (and win) deals.
You’re Only As Good As The Deals You See
I’m certainly not the first to say this. However, I’ve learned first-hand that you are only as good as the deals you see. If you ask any investor their thoughts on this, they will almost certainly tell you that they would have preferred to pass on Facebook’s seed round than never have known of Facebook’s existence at the seed stage.
The logic is simple: you can learn and reflect on why you passed on Facebook and make sure you don’t do it again. It is…
