But what I like most about Khosla (and Khosla ventures) is that he focuses on cleantech ventures: http://www.khoslaventures.com/sustainability.html -- something that is really assuredly /good/. I wouldn't mind having more VC's around like him.
Now he's pulling the same stunt in healthcare. He's rushing in with naive founders, taking big stakes, and all he needs to do is flip a few to have the set return a decent ROI. But the founders are mere cannon fodder. And he justifies it with his own ego - you are blessed to have him aboard!
Making good investment decisions when it comes to green is HARD, as evidenced by the failures of KCPB (Fisker), the government (Solyndra), and the hesitance of YC (why does YC have a history of not accepting green ventures? Why don't they get a partner who's learned in this area? Danielle Fong is obviously brilliant (dropped out from Princeton at age 17... where she was doing her PhD), yet she was rejected by YC -- and went on to get funding from Khosla Ventures and Peter Thiel). The science of investment strategies when it comes to web companies is considerably easier - it is mostly solved to a great number of people, it isn't that easy when it comes to green companies. I think it is logical then, considering that unlike the webspace, this is VC's market, that the terms would be more favorable for them.
Anyway though, I wonder if you've got a bad impression of Khosla because of his sometimes brash mannerisms? His aggressive incisiveness?
Danielle is great. But do you know the terms she and her team got? She doesn't control the board, does she?
As for me, direct experiences and those of many people I know. Vinod's duplicity is well-known.
I don't remember one.
I'm sure a Calacanis or a Wilson would have exposed a crooked VC with show & stow tactics.
Others have been flogged quite publicly.
Source:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=893845
http://betabeat.com/2011/12/pay-to-pitch-how-much-is-too-muc...
One doesn't state that he/she has probably made mistakes == person is implying he's never given bad advice.
One does state that he/she has probably made mistakes == its the "ol' Damning Admission" strategy
Do you even think?
"The only way to win is not to play" is always a time honored strategy.
What you say during your PR pitch is almost irrelevant (unless you fuck up catastrophically). The nature, location and the very fact that you're doing a PR pitch speaks much much louder than the content of your pitch.
In other news...