#bryce roberts

[jmota-blog]

Bryce Roberts of OATV and Indie.vc

    After coming back from spring break we took some class time to reflect on our Kickstarters and speak to the class about where we have been, where we are and where we are going. The following week we had a little change of pace, instead of having a designer as a guest speaker we were allowed to see what happens behind the curtains. We had Bryce Roberts of OATV and Indie.vc Skype in an talk to us about venture capitalism.

    For those of you who might not know what that is, it is financially investing in newly emerging companies. Allowing companies and ideas to hit the floors with the wheels rolling!

    Bryce spoke to us about some of his requirements to personally invest in a company. What is important to him is how successful the company has been before his arrival; How well they can plan ahead, he wants to know exactly what his money is going towards; But the most important thing for Bryce is how passionate the people are, can they convince him to be behind their idea as much as they are.

    From him I took what I believe to be an incredible portion of advice. He believes that not everything is meant to be a company. And this hit home, sometimes what brings a business down is the amount of inventory they have. Why can’t an object just be treated for the purpose of selling. Does everything have to keep growing larger into a company?

I would like to take tis time to thank Bryce for taking the time from his busy schedule to Skype in with us and share his knowledge and experience. Who knowns, in the future we might be seeking you out again to coach us and believe in us!

[purplesunglow-blog]

Talking with Bryce Roberts

Thoughts on Venture Capital

Our teacher allowed the class to see some informational clips about venture capital and how it can effect our projects if we see value within it. Venture capital is how our teacher Craighton described to us like purchasing a home. Where investors are the individuals who supply the money to potential businesses using certain guidelines and get a percentage out of the company when it succeeds allowing the entrepreneur and the investor to rise.

 The Talk

Bryce co-founded O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures with Mark Jacobsen and Tim O'Reilly. He was able to talk through Skype with us last Thursday to our class. He told us about how they look into seeding companies to profitability. They look at entrepreneurs who have a great interest into what their doing as going above and beyond to support their project’s potential to rise. Without that enthusiasm it would slowly die and affects all aspects of the company and investment. Traditional companies mindset on how to invest in is different. They look at individuals who already knows what they are doing while Bryce said, “if you have interest we take it into consideration” passion is what is noticed.

It is all about the voices that can be brought out of the dark to shine among the world. Venture capital is a way for entrepreneurs to make way for ideas to shine. 

Thank you Bryce for taking the time out of your schedule to chat with us as it was very informational.

To Learn More:

Here is Bryce Roberts company OATV: http://oatv.com/are.html

His website: http://bryce.vc

[thenashvillite]

Such ear candy

[alexstechthoughts]

Article Of The Week XIV

Before last night, the article of the week was very clearly going to be Most People Won't by Bryce Roberts . But now he has to share the article of the week spot with Jordan Cooper, of Wildcard, as he put out a seriously awesome read titled Understanding Snapchat. 

Both are great posts and worth a few minutes to read. 

[bluesakianalytics]

Bryce Roberts chatting with Vinod Khosla. Three part conversation - with big ideas for entrepreneurs.

[cartergibson]

@dens has created an amazing business in foursquare. I can tell you from person experience that the 4S app is one of the few that has consistently gotten better with each iteration and more valuable to me. I love that I can go to a completely new place, pull out phone, and find the best experiences tailored just for me.

That is why this video >> Dorm Innovators w/ Dennis Crowley of foursquare >> is required watching for your weekend.

hat tip to @fredwilson for highlighting this video and @bryce for the whole "required weekend viewing" idea

[thoughtyoushouldseethis-blog]

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

The Problem With "Innovation" is a great, great post by Bryce Roberts in which he cites the above quote from Buckminster Fuller and points out that what looks silly, superficial, inconsequential and downright distracting when they're first proposed can "suddenly" have fundamental consequences for society as a whole. Or, as he puts it:

New models create new markets, but they’re often misunderstood at the outset. Stupid checkins reshape how we explore and experience the real world. Prepaying for tick tock watches reshapes financial markets. Silly status updates spark revolutions. And grainy glitchy video calls cut into the commercial air travel.

Super useful to bear this in mind.

[Story via Erik van Crimmin]

[loughshore-blog]

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

For a couple of years in my twenties I turned into "Mr Quotation" and could ream off words of wisdom from all the sages in the last Millennia. Then I promptly forgot them all again. Perhaps a case of a befuddled youth, reading every self help book in the library, then deciding life was for living instead!? 

That said, from time to time, some perennial wisdom still pops out. When working with early stage entrepreneurs I always remind them of three things; that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step" (Lao Tzu), that "most people overestimate what they can achieve in one year, but underestimate what can be achieved in ten" (Tony Robbins), and "compound growth is the most powerful force in the universe" (Albert Einstein). 

No-one would argue that patience, long-term view and persistence are critical in business, as with long-term success in many other arenas. Similarly, an entrepreneur is almost by definition someone who gets up from their chair and takes that first step and most observers understand that early stage companies must throw "boulders against eggshells" (The Art of War) to succeed, and put "buy when there is blood on the streets" (Baron Rothschild) at the core of their acquisition strategy (as you can see, I still like a quote or two!). 

At Lough Shore, we feature a start-up blog on Twitter each day and one of this week's offerings, from San Fran VC Bryce Roberts, really got me thinking. 

The Entrepreneurial Commitment Problem bit.ly/wrol1v

— Bryce Roberts (@bryce) January 19, 2012

Bryce refers to some fascinating research which suggests that long-term commitment rather than raw talent could be the core determinant in how quickly people show the benefits of practice. The research was based on a study of children undertaking piano lessons, but presumably could be applied to the practice of any activity. It compliments the conventional 10,000 hour wisdom by adding the caveat that those taking a long term view will develop a lot further and faster (in relative terms) than those possessing a short-term outlook. Bryce used this example in the context of founders and start-ups, believing those entrepreneurs with a long-term commitment will create the most impactful businesses.

As with all results that seem obvious in hindsight, my first caveat is that I'd like to really understand the empirical evidence supporting the conclusions. However, if the methodology holds the conclusion really resonates with the Lough Shore view of the world. Our mission was constructed quite deliberately, giving ten years to deliver the goal. Even this belies a long term commitment to build a world class investment company that will be around for the next fifty years.

We don't have a view on how successful Lough Shore can be thirty years from now, but firmly believe in the long term power of compounding and commitment to one's art. 

I'm going to order a copy of the Talent Code. Bryce's blog has certainly whetted my appetite, and in particular I can't help but wonder where and how passion fits in!