Succeeding in Venture Capital as an Introvert

How a 12 months of digital dwelling made me admire individuals extra

After I inform individuals I’m an introvert, reactions cut up into two camps. For individuals who know me properly, it’s just about, “Yeah, duh.” However for individuals who have solely been uncovered to me in public settings, or on-line, there’s often extra shock {that a} enterprise capitalist like me might be an introvert. Folks generally mistake introversion for shyness or insecurity. But it surely’s actually about whether or not being with individuals offers you power or takes power away. I really like individuals, I simply want sufficient quantities of time to recharge, often spent on my own.

When you’re studying this I’ll assume you’re human, which suggests the previous 12 months have been most likely fairly tumultuous for you. My household has been extremely lucky and hopefully, the long-term penalties are going to be minimal. Recently, I’ve discovered myself largely making an attempt to determine what classes my daughter ought to study from this time, and what classes we particularly don’t need her to hold all through her life.

This has given me an opportunity to redefine my very own habits as an introvert — particularly these associated to how, the place, and after I spend time with individuals.

With regards to my job, after training enterprise capital for seven years underneath regular circumstances, it was instructive to get thrown into this new state of affairs, as a result of I don’t suppose we’ll ever totally “return to regular.” As a substitute, we’ll mix facets of pre-2020 and our experiences from the previous 12 months right into a “new regular.” This has given me an opportunity to redefine my very own habits as an introvert — particularly these associated to how, the place, and after I spend time with individuals. It’s a work-in-process however right here’s what I’m pondering:

Group occasions

Up to now, these would all the time journey me up. I’d expertise some social nervousness blended with usually feeling overwhelmed by my very own inside scorecarding and ideas of, “Am I networking sufficient?” Now on Zoom, I can simply fall again to audio-only, or drop off the gathering after I’m prepared to depart. (What’s the “flip off video” equal for me when being at a big occasion? In all probability peeling away with an individual or two for the ol’ stroll and speak.) Going ahead, I feel digital occasions will proceed to evolve past the Zoom room and into codecs like Icebreaker. I can’t say that Covid-19 has made me rethink the private utility of the actually massive conferences (I don’t attend many), but it surely does make me miss the curation of smaller teams. The occasions the place hosts put effort into bringing collectively individuals with a excessive diploma of objective and work laborious to make sure mixing, these are great. My 2022 will hopefully embrace a return to occasions like these.

Working with founders

That is what I actually have missed. You would possibly suppose I’m referring to the time spent with a founder earlier than deciding to make an funding of their startup, and definitely, there are moments the place an in-person dialog will be the distinction between Deal or No Deal. However I don’t suppose we’ll ever return to 100% in-person pitching, particularly within the earliest phases of attending to know somebody. It’s simply too mutually environment friendly to make a primary pitch right into a name or video, particularly if the founders want it.

However what I actually do miss are the post-investment moments which are so significantly better in-person — the varieties of relationships that get constructed over meals, over walks, and on a whiteboard. Not the perfunctory displaying up in individual for a board assembly (though generally being there’s essential), however reasonably the stuff which requires as a lot EQ (or emotional intelligence) as IQ. And I’m anticipating doing a number of this within the locations our portfolio corporations are scattered: the Bay Space, New York Metropolis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Portland, San Diego, Boston, Salt Lake Metropolis, Mexico Metropolis, Buenos Aires, and so forth.

For what it’s value, I sense a lot of startup groups are able to get again into workplaces as properly or no less than have the flexibility to work in-person for the durations the place collaboration and culture-building are most important. If I have been early in my profession, it will completely be my desire to work for a corporation with an in-office tradition (both full-time or hybrid). There’s simply a lot neighborhood and learning-by-osmosis (or serendipity) that comes from being collectively. So whereas our VC agency Homebrew positively invests in corporations which are 100% distant/distributed, we additionally espouse being intentional about what it means to take action and never underinvest within the infrastructure, journey, and skill-building it takes to achieve this mannequin.

Work-life steadiness

Will we nonetheless name it this? How about simply happiness and sanity? I’ve discovered that I actually take pleasure in driving my child to high school on Friday mornings. I’ve discovered that enjoying backgammon with my spouse over lunch is good when our mutual schedules accommodate. I’ve grown more and more keen on simply speaking on the cellphone with a founder for 5 minutes once they want some assist (versus going backwards and forwards over electronic mail). Optimizing as finest I can for flexibility has been a delight and a privilege, one I hope to keep up. My weekdays are mainly 80% Homebrew, 20% household, with my weekends being the reverse. To date it’s labored out fairly properly, besides I feel my canine goes to be shocked once we’re not in the home together with her 24/7.

Homebrew closed its workplace in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood final March, and we’ve solely been in there a handful of instances since. Our lease runs till spring 2022, and I don’t know if we’ll renew it or not. It’s an amazing house that accommodates our five-person crew fairly comfortably with flex-desk room for an additional 4 to 6 individuals. My finest guess is that we’ll retain the workplace — or one thing prefer it — however hopefully, see the advantages of a metropolis in transition realized in barely decrease rents. Or perhaps not. Maybe San Francisco rents are positively correlated with VC’s inside charge of return!

I do miss being close to my enterprise associate Satya. In the course of the social distancing period, we’ve discovered methods to securely get collectively however, to be trustworthy, it’s not frequent sufficient for me to be optimally completely happy. Years in the past, earlier than we began the agency, my spouse and I casually checked out shopping for a home two doorways down from his. Possibly if we’d pulled the set off I might have had a real Homebrew pod! (Though I’m unsure what the remainder of our households would say about this?)

There’s nonetheless so much to determine over the subsequent few months, however right here’s to vaccinations! I hope you all get by way of the subsequent few months wholesome, supported, and thriving.