Agile VC

My idle thoughts on tech startups

Agile VC: 

My idle thoughts on tech startups

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We recently completed the final close of NextView Ventures, LP and we’re excited about both our progress to date and our plans for the future. My partners and I wanted to peel back the curtain slightly for those of you […]

Lee Hower
February 21, 2012 · 2  min.

They say the small stuff you do to accomplish a big goal is often the most important, even if a lot of isn’t glamorous or produces very small incremental benefit.  The football analogy is blocking by the offensive line and […]

Lee Hower
February 16, 2012 · < 1  min.

The VC industry is a competitive business.  So are most disciplines within the investing world, but the fundamental framework and manner in which we compete in VC is pretty different. In the modern age public market investors, whether they be […]

Lee Hower
February 9, 2012 · 3  min.

Those of you who’ve visited the NextView website may have seen a Ethos section where we describe five tenets of how we approach things… Golazo, Authentic, Blank Canvas, Invited Guest, and Tribe.  I wanted to touch on ‘golazo’ as it’s […]

Lee Hower
February 7, 2012 · 2  min.

The interminable wait is over, and Facebook’s S-1 was filed yesterday afternoon. I recently wrote a post noting that while the growth cycle of startups has clearly accelerated in the last 5 years, the number of truly monster new businesses […]

Lee Hower
February 2, 2012 · 5  min.

Something has clearly changed within the last 5-6 years in terms of the speed with which monster startups are created in the software and internet space.  As a result of a convergence of many factors (lean startup methodology, broadband & […]

Lee Hower
January 27, 2012 · 3  min.

I think there are tons of reasons to be a founding entrepreneur… some good, some bad, some ultimately inconsequential.  Being a startup founder isn’t for everyone ultimately, in fact it probably isn’t for most people.  My old boss Reid Hoffman […]

Lee Hower
January 18, 2012 · 2  min.

Even the best entrepreneurs often hear “no” from potential investors.  I’ve blogged before how this remains one of the hardest parts of my job.  Yet a clear and quick “no” is often the best response other than an enthusiastic “yes”. […]

Lee Hower
January 12, 2012 · 2  min.

Today one of our portfolio companies, GrabCAD, announced it’s Series A funding led by Matrix.  NextView originally invested in the company’s seed round in the spring of 2011 and we again participated in this latest round along with Atlas Venture. […]

Lee Hower
January 4, 2012 · 2  min.

One of the hardest things for me as a VC remains telling entrepreneurs I like and respect that we’re passing on their investment round.  I often tell these entrepreneurs that I genuinely hope they prove us wrong, and are wildly […]

Lee Hower
December 13, 2011 · 2  min.