A list of deals one VC firm passed on -- Google, eBay, Apple, Intel, Fedex, Paypal, etc.
bvp.com
bvp.com
I was just talking to some founders about what terribly bad judges VCs are, compared to how confident they seem. They're in the same position as governments. All governments are horribly inefficient, but they don't realize it because their only competitors are other governments.
Come to think of it, this may be changing. Now that startups are so cheap to run, companies rejected by VCs are increasingly likely to survive to embarrass them.
What do you think of the idea that companies that are cheap to run may face stiffer competition and thus never really gain a large chunk of the market, thereby never making it "astronomically" big.
At one point the network effect will come into play as well as consolidations down the line but it's an interesting thought.
His blog entry on the YC rejection is dated 11th January 2006. The one on the IBM job is dated 1st january 2008.
So Damien essentially took the rejection in his stride, didn't bother whining, and kept on hacking.
Very impressive.
you gotta love this entry:
Cowan’s college friend rented her garage to Sergey and Larry for their first year. In 1999 and 2000 she tried to introduce Cowan to “these two really smart Stanford students writing a search engine”. Students? A new search engine? In the most important moment ever for Bessemer’s anti-portfolio, Cowan asked her, “How can I get out of this house without going anywhere near your garage?”
The VC arm of Allstate Insurance passed up 20% of Microsoft for $8 million. Ouch.
It is completely possible that had any of these VCs actually put money into these missed investments, that the "investments" could have taken an entirely different (where different == bad) path.
The end outcome of a startup is often the result of several key variables. Change any one variable, and so changes the outcome.
It's all very nuts though, and I agree the world is starved for honesty. Honesty, how do we become more honest when we might even be lying to ourselves?...
If you have the same passion for something else, that's only half the battle. The other half is making sure your passion aligns with the passion of people willing to give you money. I've come up with a few good ideas in my life that I'd love to do as my "real job", but I know nobody else would be interested. That is why I am not a millionaire :)
Of course, the luck is being able to predict what people will want.
It seems Google may have reached that point when every one of their new products is praised and lauded - they make the market where none existed yet.
By all means do what you love b/c if it crashes and burns at least you won't have hated the last 2 years of your life.
They were lucky to get initial funding.
They were lucky to find a great income model.
They were lucky that nobody else took search serious.
Corny but applicable. :)