Writing

Choose

The Cost Of Loyalty

In the local transportation market, we now have lots of options in addition to mass transit. Here in NYC, we have taxis, Lyft, and Uber. In SF and LA, we have taxis, Sidecar (our portfolio company), Lyft, and Uber. Around [...]  Read more

The Dentist Office Software Story

I've been telling this fictional story about Dentist Office Software for years to describe why we are so focused on our "networks" investment strategy. Yesterday I told it at a HackNY event we did at the USV office and my [...]  Read more

CrowdRise

In November 2010 my friend Shana Fisher sent me an email suggesting I meet Edward Norton about his crowdfunding site for charities, called CrowdRise. I was pretty dismissive in my response to Shana. I told her that USV was “all [...]  Read more

The Bubble Question

Everywhere I go, everywhere I speak, I get asked this question. Are we in a bubble? I've been getting asked that question for at least four years now. It's hard to sustain a bubble for four years. But we are [...]  Read more

The Pro-Rata Participation Right

I've touched on this subject before. It is one the "three things you must have in a venture investment". The "pro-rata right" is the right to continue to participate in future rounds so that you can maintain your ownership. Let's [...]  Read more

Profitless Prosperity

If a Company is making huge profits this year but will not make any profits in the future, it is worthless in the eyes of an investor. But if it loses money this year and next year and may lose [...]  Read more