There is no ‘lack of weakness’ when we invest in a new company
No one is that good.
Understanding how to engineer enzymes or build a rocket is hard enough. Knowing how to also make a business around that is a big ‘ask’ with all the unique skills each element requires.
Ben Horowitz says that at a16z: “We invest in the magnitude of the strength of the idea and the team, not in their lack of weaknesses.”
I am convinced that the art of venture building is to build conviction around that strength while building the plan for removing weakness.
Learning from the Motown “Hit factory.”
When artists like The Jacksons, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross stepped into Motown with their raw talent, this is a great example of what I am talking about.
Berry Gordy and his team put them through the ‘Hit Factory’ where they collaborated with choreographers, songwriters and presence experts to remove weakness from their raw talent.
Venture building can learn a lot from artist development programs like this.
The investor as producer
Early-stage investors are much more like producers in the entertainment industry than we are like bankers.
I listened to Mike Ovitz from artists agency CAA on the a16z podcast. They changed their model from passively waiting for studios’ opportunities to sell their clients to creating opportunities that they then sold as a package to studios.
“I have good news and bad news; the good news is we’ve got Kathy Kennedy, and Steven Spielberg, and Michael Crighton, you know, with a book that’s gonna be a bestseller about dinosaurs, and we’ve got a screenplay, and it’s gonna cost this much money.” “So, what’s the bad news?” “Well, we own it, and you don’t.”
Invest in strength.
Remove weakness together.
Build the best possible package.
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