The Deal has an interview with Reid Hoffman on why he signed up as a partner with the Silicon Valley VC firm, rather .
Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A deals in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports. Email the author at arun@ventureintelligence.in
We both believe that the key thing is the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur is the person who is massively driving the business. The venture firm's role is to be a really good partner -- not a softie that's asleep in the back seat, but someone who is fundamentally collaborating on the business, asking the hard questions and working with you on solving problems. The expectation is that the relationship will last for the next 20 years, and so you have to be up-front and transparent. When there are conflicts, you have to work through them to provide a basis for a decades-long relationship. When we tackle problems, David will clearly identify where Greylock's interests are and where the startup's are. He puts it on the table and doesn't try to persuade you that Greylock's interest is necessarily the same as the company's.
Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A deals in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports. Email the author at arun@ventureintelligence.in