If only the Onion knew the Valley, this would be a great headline: Vinod Khosla: Be Wary of “Stupid Advice” that's like saying: Donald Trump: Be Wary of "Gold Diggers"
How long ago? He's been at this almost 30 years. He doesn't need the money. Now it's all about him. Martin's Beach is the symptom of the disease.
90% of the time Vinod Khosla pulls numbers out of his ass. It's amazing really how much this guy subs the press. He acts as the entrepreneur's friend when the truth in the Valley is the exact opposite. Beware.
Repeating as public service announcement of what folks in the know tell each other: Vinod has a very negative reputation in the Valley. He used to be known as the biggest anti-founder VC when he was at Kleiner. He'd…
No one here is evil. VCs have a very important role to play in the startup ecosystem. Their job is to produce significant returns to their LPs. If you can't deliver that, then you shouldn't have taken their money.
This is the time I need to pop up every so often. Vinod has a very negative reputation in the Valley. He used to be known as the biggest anti-founder VC when he was at Kleiner. He'd come in, use sharp elbows to push…
You do realize that Vinod has been at this for a long time. And his bad reputation is based on that long history. So why make definitive claims based on six months of data? Moreover, above you justify the insane terms…
Keith, you are either getting false information from your partners or willfully misleading here. I prefer the former interpretation since I know for a fact this behavior exists at KV and specifically with Vinod leading…
With how much liquity floats around today, there's no such thing as too risky. No, Vinod jumps in early exactly to maximize leverage and over the founders and other investors. Why not simply treat them like any other…
Or in the case of "experiments" KV insists on two seats and takes the option pool from founders at the seed stage. I get why you are presenting the rosiest picture, but at least be honest that Bad Vinod exists and is…
And control provisions? Jack was never going to see Bad Vinod. And he was never going to give up enough equity/control to let Vinod's ego run wild.
And as someone knows the word has gotten out about Vinod must actively combat that reputation. I wish you luck. Good Vinod can be as fine a partner as any, I'm sure. It's just the history of Bad Vinod, and how he has…
Nice dodge on the questions. I freely admit he does well BT his LPs. The problem is Bad Vinod has consistently screwed with founders. Good Vinod is likely a product of all of those terrible outcomes.
If that's the best you got, you've proved my point. Square I address below. Vinod gave the best valuation exactly because it was Jack. That's hardly founder friendly when you have no choice. Jawbone is another fun data…
Heh, seriously? I'm sure the valuation he gave Jack has nothing at all to do with it. Jack didnt need Vinod, big difference. Square would be Square without Vinod.
WTF and Khosla go hand in hand. Again, he can negotiate any way he pleases. Just don't pretend and market yourself as some great friend to founders. He's decidedly not.
Some of those have already exited and for barely getting their money back. Square is the outlier. But Dorsey was proven by that point. His success certainly isn't Khosla. Again, don't just look at KV. Khosla has been at…
Final tally - 51 votes here to the contrary. Those who know avoid Khosla. For all you new founders, tread lightly.
The hostility comes from the large gap between his public persona and what people actually know. That annoys me, yes. He's not a guy that accomplished people actively seek out. You can judge him solely based on his…
As my note below implies, there's a big difference between a lead investor and a follow on. If he were a go-to VC, we'd see it in his portfolio. Vinod's been at this far long enough to judge his results. He gets his ROI…
Also, was KV your lead investor?
His investment thesis is high-growth startups. Funny enough, that's YC too. What you are leaving out is his thesis assumes overwhelming control. That thesis is not in a founder's best interests. It's far better to raise…
Of course, then there's insisting on 50% equity plus an options pool that comes from founder shares at the seed stage...
I didn't say he's a bad VC. I'm sure his LPs love him. He's just not who he markets himself as. It's not about you and your company. It's about him. As for YC, they have what, 400 companies? For a guy who is supposedly…
38 points - so far - from those 7 comments. I'm simply saying what many, many people already know to be true. But again, judge his portfolio for yourself. For a guy who says he's founder friendly where's the first…
If only the Onion knew the Valley, this would be a great headline: Vinod Khosla: Be Wary of “Stupid Advice” that's like saying: Donald Trump: Be Wary of "Gold Diggers"
How long ago? He's been at this almost 30 years. He doesn't need the money. Now it's all about him. Martin's Beach is the symptom of the disease.
90% of the time Vinod Khosla pulls numbers out of his ass. It's amazing really how much this guy subs the press. He acts as the entrepreneur's friend when the truth in the Valley is the exact opposite. Beware.
Repeating as public service announcement of what folks in the know tell each other: Vinod has a very negative reputation in the Valley. He used to be known as the biggest anti-founder VC when he was at Kleiner. He'd…
No one here is evil. VCs have a very important role to play in the startup ecosystem. Their job is to produce significant returns to their LPs. If you can't deliver that, then you shouldn't have taken their money.
This is the time I need to pop up every so often. Vinod has a very negative reputation in the Valley. He used to be known as the biggest anti-founder VC when he was at Kleiner. He'd come in, use sharp elbows to push…
You do realize that Vinod has been at this for a long time. And his bad reputation is based on that long history. So why make definitive claims based on six months of data? Moreover, above you justify the insane terms…
Keith, you are either getting false information from your partners or willfully misleading here. I prefer the former interpretation since I know for a fact this behavior exists at KV and specifically with Vinod leading…
With how much liquity floats around today, there's no such thing as too risky. No, Vinod jumps in early exactly to maximize leverage and over the founders and other investors. Why not simply treat them like any other…
Or in the case of "experiments" KV insists on two seats and takes the option pool from founders at the seed stage. I get why you are presenting the rosiest picture, but at least be honest that Bad Vinod exists and is…
And control provisions? Jack was never going to see Bad Vinod. And he was never going to give up enough equity/control to let Vinod's ego run wild.
And as someone knows the word has gotten out about Vinod must actively combat that reputation. I wish you luck. Good Vinod can be as fine a partner as any, I'm sure. It's just the history of Bad Vinod, and how he has…
Nice dodge on the questions. I freely admit he does well BT his LPs. The problem is Bad Vinod has consistently screwed with founders. Good Vinod is likely a product of all of those terrible outcomes.
If that's the best you got, you've proved my point. Square I address below. Vinod gave the best valuation exactly because it was Jack. That's hardly founder friendly when you have no choice. Jawbone is another fun data…
Heh, seriously? I'm sure the valuation he gave Jack has nothing at all to do with it. Jack didnt need Vinod, big difference. Square would be Square without Vinod.
WTF and Khosla go hand in hand. Again, he can negotiate any way he pleases. Just don't pretend and market yourself as some great friend to founders. He's decidedly not.
Some of those have already exited and for barely getting their money back. Square is the outlier. But Dorsey was proven by that point. His success certainly isn't Khosla. Again, don't just look at KV. Khosla has been at…
Final tally - 51 votes here to the contrary. Those who know avoid Khosla. For all you new founders, tread lightly.
The hostility comes from the large gap between his public persona and what people actually know. That annoys me, yes. He's not a guy that accomplished people actively seek out. You can judge him solely based on his…
As my note below implies, there's a big difference between a lead investor and a follow on. If he were a go-to VC, we'd see it in his portfolio. Vinod's been at this far long enough to judge his results. He gets his ROI…
Also, was KV your lead investor?
His investment thesis is high-growth startups. Funny enough, that's YC too. What you are leaving out is his thesis assumes overwhelming control. That thesis is not in a founder's best interests. It's far better to raise…
Of course, then there's insisting on 50% equity plus an options pool that comes from founder shares at the seed stage...
I didn't say he's a bad VC. I'm sure his LPs love him. He's just not who he markets himself as. It's not about you and your company. It's about him. As for YC, they have what, 400 companies? For a guy who is supposedly…
38 points - so far - from those 7 comments. I'm simply saying what many, many people already know to be true. But again, judge his portfolio for yourself. For a guy who says he's founder friendly where's the first…