Whales, not Unicorns.
“Unicorns are made up creatures, Whales are not. And given the similarities between a highly successful venture capital investment and a highly successful whaling voyage, I am going to start calling the big winners in the venture industry Whales” -Fred Wilson
The Whaling industry in the United States in the 18th & 19th centuries looked remarkably similar to today’s venture capital business
”The rise of American inventiveness in whaling reflected a distinct culture of entrepreneurial exceptionalism, risk capital deployment, and the pursuit of outsized returns. Rates of return on capital could be high in whaling, but so was the downside risk associated with this unpredictable and hazardous industry. In the United States, whaling was one of the earliest kinds of enterprise to grapple with the complexities of risk capital intermeditation, organizational form, ownership structure, incentives, team building, and principal-agent tradeoffs. The whaling business represents an important starting point for exploring the origins of American venture financing.” - Tom Nicholas
Figure 1.3 Tom Nicholas, VC: An American History (Harvard University press, 2019) p.22
There is no formula for entrepreneurship
We have backed entrepreneurs who have spent their whole lives in technology and startups, and we have backed entrepreneurs who have spent none of their lives in technology or startups. There is no formula for who should and should not build a new company. We look for entrepreneurs with a passion for what they are building and a thoughtful understanding of why they are uniquely suited to build the company they envision. We see our role as an early stage investor as a support system for entrepreneurs and we look to draw on our experience and network to help teams along the way.
Figure1.1 Tom Nicholas, VC: An American History (Harvard University press, 2019) p.13