Does NYC Need Another Early-Stage Investment Fund?
This is a question I’ve been pondering for quite some time. I’ve gotten pretty involved in the early-stage investment scene over the past three years, having done, wow, 22 investments. It is hard to believe there have been so many really good entrepreneurs, ideas and business models that warranted funding, and that could benefit by having me as an investor, Board member and/or adviser. I have learned a lot, built some great personal and professional relationships and made a few bucks in the process. But I have been doing this as a long ranger with my own money, acting in the capacity of a “super angel” somewhere between the world of straight-angel investors and venture capitalists. And I feel that maybe I’m not really maximizing my impact due to my limited resources and limited bandwidth.
My question is: does it make sense to institutionalize, to raise outside money and to build a real business out of this? Would real value be created by my stepping up, raising money and getting serious about the early-stage investment business? Do Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley really need another guy like me? I am deeply conflicted, partially because I already know a lot of really good early-stage investors in NYC and elsewhere but also because being a “VC” has a somewhat pejorative ring to it. I don’t consider myself a VC; I tend to take more risk, invest earlier and leverage the hell out of my fairly robust and diverse rolodex. I guess in this way I am an angel, but a very active and connected angel who would like to put a lot more money to work than I have in the past. The deal flow is there; I would simply step up my deal size and be able to more significantly participate in follow-on rounds.
Anyway, from time to time I muse about career stuff on this blog, and this is one of those times. Trading, hedge fund management and early-stage investing. My three work passions. It is a pity that I can’t do them all, simultaneously. Wouldn’t that be a cool trick…
