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Don't Forget to Think About What Could Go Right!

Back during my days in Silicon Valley, when I was an executive with a startup funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, I got excellent advice one day from Doug Mackenze, the KPCB partner on our board.  During a strategy session, Doug said, “Don’t forget to think about what could go right!” Too often we spend all of our time as VCs and entrepreneurs “mitigating risk,” which is great except that sometimes the biggest risk is that you’re not ready when opportunity strikes.

I moved Flywheel Ventures to New Mexico back in 2000 for a variety of reasons, but the principal motivator was simple: Fish Where Everyone Else Isn’t.  I thought that New Mexico, in particular, was a dramatically underserved market for venture investing and technology entrepreneurship.  Sooner or later, I thought, that tide would turn and, as the saying goes, the boats would start lifting.

It’s been a lot of hard work by thousands of entrepreneurs, service professionals, politicians, investors, and other thought leaders in New Mexico - many of whom have been at it a lot longer than myself or Flywheel.  Now, though, it looks like the tide really is coming in - and sure enough, it may be arriving faster than any of us expected.  Just read this editorial by the New Mexico Business Weekly today: Albuquerque Is On Fire With Growth and Opportunity.

The late management guru Peter Drucker once said, “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” Mr. Drucker would surely be impressed by the opportunities for entrepreneurs today in New Mexico.

Time to go fishing!

Posted 05-08-2006, 02:41 pm, by Trevor Loy    Comments 1

I agree with you Trevor – 100%. The same situation and 'fishing' opportunities you have described in this post are present in other areas of the USA where your model would work very well. I would like to speak with you about your fund, IP commercialization, etc. By the way, I am friends with Steve Walsh – Univ. of NM professor, whom I believe you do know, and I am also in touch with Randy Burge. I look forward to speaking with you. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you.

Posted 02-19-2007, 01:35 pm, by Divjot S. Narang - 'Sunny'