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I actually find it's more interesting to play in the niches and find ways to apply technology to relatively straightforward problems.
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Food tech has been kind of an area that we have been making a number of investments in. Kind of a big boring industry, but a lot of people eat.
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There's a mathematical way to get success.
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The reason we invest globally is because we think that's where a lot of the growth is happening: around the world.
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Most firms do two investments a year. They may talk to between 50 and 100 and do a couple, whereas we're talking to thousands and doing several hundred.
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We are trying to build large, lasting businesses.
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I don't expect anyone to believe I will change, but I'm working on it.
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I did pick Lyft, but Lyft didn't seem amazing.
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I'm ashamed I didn't change my behavior until I was forced to do so by circumstance and by others. The reality is, I was stopped from further bad actions by those who spoke up about my offenses, at substantial risk to their personal and professional reputations... and subsequently, by Christine and others on the 500 team.
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My role has been limited to focus on fiduciary obligations to our investors as a general partner of our funds.
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My personal failures aside, 500 has long supported a diverse community of entrepreneurs including women, minorities, LGTBQ, international, and other overlooked founders.
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There's been entrepreneurs working in the Valley for probably 50-60 years. It's not to say that you can't create that in other places, but I think people are a little bit impatient about creating the next Silicon Valley.
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I aim to combine all the things I do in a comprehensive and holistic fashion that benefits startups and the people who make them grow.
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Everyone has a different definition of risk. Sometimes that creates opportunities as well.
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We often say if you have traction, lead with traction. Talk about specific customers, usage numbers, revenue metrics - anything like that that really is clearly explicit and factual. Get that out in front early.
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I don't know if we're doing the optimal things that we can to try and connect different people on the planet with different points of view and not be so angry at each other.
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With great power comes great responsibility. These are platforms with hundreds of millions of people.
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I want to invest in a functional product that people are using.
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Companies that tend to survive are the rebels.
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I bet on a lot of stuff that's low-priced, and most of it's going to go back down to zero. But some of it's going to go up.
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Offline, anything is expensive. Online is much cheaper, usually, to do almost anything.
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I think 'Shark Tank' is targeting companies that are really trying to raise their very first dollar. A lot of them aren't really tech focused. We're definitely going after companies that are building real technology, either software or hardware, they probably have raised a couple hundred thousand already.
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If you already have some amount of significant traction with customers, either in usage or in revenue, you should very quickly try and get that clearly out.
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I must say I have turned down several great companies, so I'd probably say I have to keep learning.