The Ignorant VC

I've spent way too much time in the last months reading blog posts written by VCs, about VC and entrepreneurship (check out the list compiled at VC 101) and i'm amazed by the depth and general helpfulness of most of those articles. I realised that blogs, and content syndication, could not only entertain and inform my little self, but also potentially make me better at what it is I actually do for a living. It's allowed me to understand better the potential and many of the possibilities of blogging and of the whole Web in general. Hey. If it's works for me, it's gotta work for a whole lotta people.
2.0 indeed...

So what am I doing here ? Not sure... Time will tell.

The much-talked-about Venture Capital Aptitude Test posted last month by Guy Kawasaki told me that, in theory, i should be one of the worst VCs around... Venture Capital IS my first real job. Hired straight out of my Business Management MSc. (5 years ago already !). No serious technical background, no real sales background, etc. But I've been steadily learning the Game, working with some of the best and smartest people around, colleagues and entrepreneurs, making mistakes, making good calls, and loving every minute of it (except for most of 2004... more on that later).

I also think that the "VC job" at a Québecois institutional VC firm like Desjardins is very different than what the job is in Sillicon Valley, or in most typical private funds. Also something i'll try and discuss later.

But anyhow, I strongly believe that Venture Capitalist is one of the best jobs there is. I especially love how you get to become a Jack of all trades (but, no, master of none): technology, strategy, finance, accounting, sales, marketing, legal, HR, governance... if there's something VCs are expert about, it's being experts of nothing, but smart enough and networked enough to find the right experts with the right skills and tightly watch them turn ideas into products, markets and, hopefully, huge-ass returns and bonuses. Fun, I tell ya !