Investor Stories 416: Lessons Learned (Niehenke, York, Hsieh)
Episode
4 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Investing
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Feedback receptivity: Actively seek criticism from CEOs, partners, and employees about board performance, deal presentations, and interpersonal behavior to continuously improve, because people stop giving feedback when you stop listening to it.
- ✓Investment discipline: Avoid investing outside your core thesis and skill set areas where you can add value; random investments in unfamiliar categories like hot sauces or NFTs typically fail due to lack of domain expertise.
- ✓Pattern recognition traps: Guilt by association works both ways—rejecting deals because similar companies failed or backing deals because similar companies succeeded both lead to mistakes; assess each opportunity on individual merits given high outcome variance.
What It Covers
Three venture investors share career mistakes and lessons: Alex Niehenke on accepting feedback, Kyle York on investing outside expertise, Vince Hsieh on pattern recognition pitfalls.
Key Questions Answered
- •Feedback receptivity: Actively seek criticism from CEOs, partners, and employees about board performance, deal presentations, and interpersonal behavior to continuously improve, because people stop giving feedback when you stop listening to it.
- •Investment discipline: Avoid investing outside your core thesis and skill set areas where you can add value; random investments in unfamiliar categories like hot sauces or NFTs typically fail due to lack of domain expertise.
- •Pattern recognition traps: Guilt by association works both ways—rejecting deals because similar companies failed or backing deals because similar companies succeeded both lead to mistakes; assess each opportunity on individual merits given high outcome variance.
Notable Moment
One investor warns that distraction during critical meetings—from family issues or missed workouts—can cause you to miss a twenty billion dollar business opportunity that day.
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