Comments on: Supporting early-stage ventures: How do you help someone fish?

By: Invest in the venture system, not venture capitalists. | Unstructured Thoughts by Taylor Davidson

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:48:14 +0000

[...] be clear: this is not about “propping up startups”. I’m not advocating creating more structures to help entrepreneurs, but instead removing the [...]

By: Why would the venture industry be any different? | Unstructured Thoughts by Taylor Davidson

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:54:00 +0000

[...] Closely related: Supporting early-stage ventures: How do you help someone fish? [...]

By: Taylor Davidson

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:22:39 +0000

I would be curious to hear about the lessons learned through the different incubation models over time…

By: Aaronchua

Aaronchua — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:59:06 +0000

We have implemented a variation of the funding model as well in Singapore. We funded 10 incubators that are experimenting with different models of incubation. We believe there is no right answer and we encourage experimentation to uncover what works and what doesn't.

By: Taylor Davidson

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:17:17 +0000

Good point that's the evolution is not entirely subjective but in fact very objective.

And yes, very interested…

By: brooksjordan

brooksjordan — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:14:20 +0000

Completely agree.

But, the lessons of post-modernism do apply. Meaning, it's not just an entirely subjective endeavor.

Accelerators arose because traditional VC (with 1 IPO in 2008) couldn't work effectively in this environment. In the same spirit, there will be approaches to accelerating young companies that works objectively better than others.

I think we're both interested in what those are.

By: Taylor Davidson

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:06:23 +0000

When we talk about incubating and accelerating companies we're really talking about incubating or accelerating people; and influencing people's actions and behaviour is much more of an art than a science.

While we can generalize about the models, the real power is in the details: when we say "in the trenches", what does that really mean? How far does one go in the trenches?

It's not a simple answer, and I think that's the point: there is no one, single, monolithic answer, because entrepreneurs, advisers and investors are all people with different backgrounds, needs and goals. We each have to make our own decisions for the models of our professional and personal lives, and the natural diversity and evolution we see is what makes life fun.

By: brooksjordan

brooksjordan — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:03:37 +0000

I think the “accelerator” versus “incubator” (and certainly classic VC model) has a lot of merit. But teaching someone to fish (at anything) is an art as much as it is a science.

I think of the CEO of Stonyfield Farms saying it took forever for them to get their act together. They were just totally disorganized and inexperienced, but they knew what they wanted to do: make a good, healthy product (yogurt), and be a force for positive change.

Who nurtured them? Was it their VCs? Company leadership? I don't know. But, intuitively, I think it should be everyone involved . . . in some form.

This, I think, is what's behind Fred Wilson's success. He's providing fishing poles, sharing what he knows about fishing, and, he's also an active fisherman (in the sense that he's down in the trenches with his companies).

And that's the kind of model where I think you could have every expectation that your portfolio companies are going to learn to, uh, swim.

By: cschultz

cschultz — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:42:32 +0000

I really agree Taylor (and great to see you're speaking at SXSW). I think incubators can provide a lot of value, but they can't be crutches. The only people that work for Voodoo incubation, are the kind of people that can pull the company off even without our help. We just accelerate them. Hence the now more in vogue "accelerator" term I guess.

Good stuff, keep it coming.