The Mission of Venture Capital: Finding Needs That Are Not Being Served

Working in VC is about continually finding needs that are not being served well and uncovering the opportunities behind them. It means trying to see a larger market, learning to look beneath the surface, and getting to the underlying truths and first principles in search of more disruptive opportunities. --- Capital is always an accelerator and catalyst for the development of an industry. ---- What is the purpose of investing? The prevailing approach in VC today is to invest earlier and in smaller companies. Early-stage investing exposes us to many new things, and we have to work at the frontiers of technology, markets, and business. For VC practitioners, an important ability is therefore to stay young at heart, remain open-minded, keep learning, and continually exchange ideas with younger people to find more promising opportunities. What VC does is help the capable entrepreneurs of our time realize their dreams faster, enabling them to contribute more to the world. Beyond financial returns, I believe VC practitioners should have a stronger sense of mission. VC can be a force that helps bring about change in the world. In terms of social impact and influence, that is valuable and meaningful work, and it brings a real sense of accomplishment. ---- Always hold on to the mission of making the world better as you overcome setbacks and difficulties.