Investing is about making decisions in an unpredictable manner. One invests based on data available at the current time – the outcome of which can vary/change during the period of investment.
Lets take 2 extreme cases-
- How many of us recollect pagers? It got wiped out in less than a year in India, replaced by mobile phones.
- Nvidia – the stock which has caused heartburn across the investing community, for a better part of a decade, it hardly moved. And little over 2 years ago, it made significantly more than the last decade, with Nvidia being the stock to own. Earlier in the year, the stock price tanked by > 40% in a single day! Well, you know only one thing – you do not know. (really!!!)
In the venture capital space, reading is a must. Read articles, op-eds, year-end reports, industry updates, genres, books. One of the books, which I read, resonated with me & made me ask ‘Is Venture Investing an Art? In venture investing, you are investing in people, value addition & the disruption (which is being portrayed for which capital is being raised!)
Now, uncertainty is all around! Processes which you have in place, will allow you to decide to invest, but then what happens after investing is not in the investor’s hands. Pablo Picasso was a prolific painter & he painted as much as he could. Few of them turned into masterpieces. He was a sculptor – not many know this facet of his life. His style also evolved with time; change was the only constant for him. Similarly with venture investing, one needs to grasp & be multi-faceted. Process may not lead to desired outcome, but then, without process one cannot invest too.
Is Bruce Springsteen also connected to venture investing? Seriously…Yes. If Bruce had continued to stay in New Jersey & had not sung in clubs across the country, will he have been the ‘Boss’ (his nickname) he is known as today?
Similarly in venture investing, one needs to meet prospective investors. If you are a fund or an entrepreneur, a ‘no’ is never a ‘no’ at you.
It could be a ‘no’ for the ‘product’ or ‘service’ you had pitched. Every pitch is an opportunity to share your views & enable you to give your best.
As a fund & as an entrepreneur, that’s the only thing that’s in your hand. And, as I conclude, art and venture investing do mimic each other!
Author
Brijesh Damodaran
