I had a great discussion the other day with Geraldine Alias, principal at Volition Capital (formerly known as Fidelity Ventures). She was talking about her days as a VC and the strategies that set Volition apart from other VCs across the country. During that conversation, she mentioned something that has really stuck out in my mind since then.
She said, “If we are not the first person that the CEO calls (outside of the internal management team) about questions, problems, good news, etc.; then we feel that we are not doing our job.”
That explanation painted a very clear picture of how important it is to their firm to really partner with their portfolio companies. That is a real compliment to the team at Volition and their philosophy. Since then, I have asked myself the question of who do I call?
Obviously, first I start with our executive team. We all get along very well and it’s a normal daily occurrence to have us talking on the phone at night and/or passing emails back & forth until the late, late nights or very early mornings. Next, I usually call my wife. While we don’t get into as much detail, she is definitely aware of what’s happening and provides a nice sounding board. Finally, I usually call one of my brothers. I have several brothers that are business executives (Adobe, Wal-Mart, BeachBody, etc.) and another that is an attorney. It’s nice to get the opinion of someone that is un-biased and can bring in an outside perspective.
So… who do you call?
