The Waiting Game
Decisive action is only occasionally required over a long arc of waiting.
A venture capital career is, at its core, a game of anticipation. You find yourself constantly in a state of waiting.
Waiting for news on the latest deal from a portfolio company or the start of a promising founder's next venture, the next something is always around the corner. Networking connections you make today may only yield results much later. And, of course, the wait to the proverbial big exit tests fortitude of patience.
However, amidst this waiting, there's a constant tug towards the immediate—the latest pitch, the urgent crisis at a portfolio company, the internal dynamics of your firm. These immediate frequently often overshadow the silent, yet crucial, and often more important processes that are developing in the background.
Interpreting Silence: No News as Good News or Bad News
Daily distractions cloud the bigger picture. Every VC has a myriad of processes playing out in the background over longer arcs that will eventually create the bigger career impacts.
A VC’s role is to influence, not to control: drawing in the best founders to join the portfolio, nudging existing portfolio founders towards a path of success, storytelling to attract new capital, cultivating fellow general partners to a shared vision for the firm.
After each interaction with any constituent is a period of silence. They could come back hours, days, months, or perhaps even years from now. This absence of interim news in any given situation in venture can be a quite complex signal to decode. For portfolio companies that are thriving, silence can be golden. It often means they're doing well, growing without the need for your intervention, and compounding successes quietly.
In contrast, no news from struggling companies can be a red flag. This silence might indicate a founder's reluctance to share bad news, a hope delaying an update will lead to the ability to share something more positive before too long.
The silence can be equally ambiguous when tracking a potential (repeat) founder. Are they deeply immersed in foundational building their new venture, or have they been swept up in a preemptive round led a competing VC firm?
Similarly, during portfolio founders’ fundraising efforts, lack of updates can swing both ways—either everything is going smoothly, or there's a growing stack of rejections.
The Anomaly of Time in VC
Venture capital tends to flip the script when it comes to the progression of time. Broadly in life’s endeavors, positive developments often build up slowly and catastrophes strike abruptly; in VC, it can be the reverse. Breakthroughs and significant successes can occur almost overnight, while the slow decline of a portfolio company might not become apparent until it's too late.
Accumulated wisdom lies in your ability to discern the meaning behind the silence. Is no news good news or bad news?
It's about knowing when to step in—perhaps to aid a struggling portfolio company or to seize a fleeting investment opportunity—and when to hold back, to let the processes and investments mature naturally. VCs don’t “add value” with intervention as much as they believe they do.
The Good Part Happens Slowly
Venture capital isn't about successive quick, high-stake decisions. (Back in college, I had a summer internship on a Wall Street trading floor in which I struggled… I barely lasted ten weeks in that role… this VC job is about as far from that side of the spectrum.) Rather, excelling at venture capital is strategically cultivating your network to subsequently make a series of deliberate bets which will unfold over the course of the following decade+. Accordingly it’s a get rich slowly business.
Understand this waiting game, recognizing the value of patience and the right timing for action. As you navigate your career in VC, remember that true mastery lies not just in the deals you make, but in the moments you choose to wait. Thriving requires a balance of knowing when to take decisive steps and when to let time unveil its own rewards.