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2. dealing with co-investors.
Take the asshole-factor above and apply it to companies
where there are often two to four VCs on the board — each
with their own agendas and egos — often not agendas that
are focused on what is best for the company and often stuck
around issues like fund reserves, fund life, etc, which most
GPs will never admit to in a board meeting but absolutely do
impact their perspective.
Also related to the first one, the inability for some "partners"
to actually speak on behalf of their partnerships at the
board level when re-financings and other big decisions happen.
3. it's lonely.
Yes, you have your raft of five to ten companies, Ceos who
you speak to daily/weekly, boards, portfolio recruiting, partner
meetings, etc. But at the core of it, this is an individual
sport. There's lots of solo travel, solo time at a computer, solo
meeting taking. If you like true team work — not the BS of
VC firm websites — then VC is not a career for you. Related
is the answer below about cheering from the sidelines vs. being
in the game.
The job of a great VC is to be a coach and not a player.
Many former Ceos who become VCs have trouble with this
and get stuck in the weeds trying to do the Ceo's job for
them but taking none of the blame (boy could I tell some
stories . . . ).
4. the ups and downs
When things aren't going well at the portfolio companies
(which often tends to happen at the same time), you just feel
bad about yourself and your ability to pick good teams, companies,
etc. You are stuck in these companies for three to ten
years and the hardest decision to make is to not finance a company's
next round due to performance. This rarely happens in
venture. It should happen more.
I am convinced this is one of the reasons VC has bad returns
as an asset class. Sure companies do pivot, but on the
whole, you know in the first eighteen months if the company
will be a screaming winner (5x+) or just oK (or worse!).
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