Wow, does Ashton Kutcher really hand out cards that say, "This certifies that I had a personal encounter with Ashton Kutcher."? Other than this was an interesting look into Conway. Fascinating that he seldom uses the products.
He's found a handful of younger people including his 29 year old son who he trusts to do the idea due diligence and he focuses on the people part of the equation, both the founders he invests in (which everyone I respect agrees with, including myself :-) and the network that he's built to help everything work.
Someone who replies in 3 minutes to an emergency "saving throw" email and delivers the setup of a key meeting for a sale to Verizon the next day doesn't have time to do everything.
And as he and many others note, the initial idea is iffy; "no plan survives contact with the enemy" and you'll find that a whole bunch of startups have ended up changing something significant about their business plan on the way to success.
So bet on people and deal flow. It works for him and has worked for a number of famous VCs (especially the no BS ones that took little time to decide to invest in e.g. Apple and Sun).
He's invests in several companies a month. If he tried to actually use every one of those products even for a short time it would probably drive him insane. Not to mention, a lot of the products that he invests in are probably not targeted to his demographic (e.g. DailyBooth)
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Wow, does Ashton Kutcher really hand out cards that say, "This certifies that I had a personal encounter with Ashton Kutcher."? Other than this was an interesting look into Conway. Fascinating that he seldom uses the products.
How come you found that fascinating? I found it lame. Why put your money down for something you've never even touched before? I couldn't do it.
Division of labor.
He's found a handful of younger people including his 29 year old son who he trusts to do the idea due diligence and he focuses on the people part of the equation, both the founders he invests in (which everyone I respect agrees with, including myself :-) and the network that he's built to help everything work.
Someone who replies in 3 minutes to an emergency "saving throw" email and delivers the setup of a key meeting for a sale to Verizon the next day doesn't have time to do everything.
And as he and many others note, the initial idea is iffy; "no plan survives contact with the enemy" and you'll find that a whole bunch of startups have ended up changing something significant about their business plan on the way to success.
So bet on people and deal flow. It works for him and has worked for a number of famous VCs (especially the no BS ones that took little time to decide to invest in e.g. Apple and Sun).
I mean it's fascinating that that has been successful for him. I agree the notion of doing it is weird to me personally.
He's invests in several companies a month. If he tried to actually use every one of those products even for a short time it would probably drive him insane. Not to mention, a lot of the products that he invests in are probably not targeted to his demographic (e.g. DailyBooth)
Perhaps he's trying to start a new meme: someones "kutcher number"