This morning I attended the December MTEB.
A couple of venture capitalists were in attendance, who graciously answered my questions about what is going on with the VC industry. I basically think the industry is big, slow, and doesn’t understand new technology. They’re closely watching the efforts of Montreal Startup, but weary several incubators, seed funds and other schemes have foundered before.
The real surprise was talking with Darrell and the engineers at Stanox. We come from different technology backgrounds: micro-chips, ERP and web. Yet we all have similar attitudes: KISS. YAGNI. Think. Simplify. We’re all fans of Saint-Exupery’s quote on perfection:
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
When I griped about a horrible API I might have to integrate (the variable names are inconsistent and ugly) one VC said “well, it can be ugly, but it’s ok if you make money”. The dividing line was obvious. For the engineers, if it’s ugly and verbose it’s probably buggy. For the investors, it’s bearable if it’s profitable.
The folks at Stanox look like they will be successful, and mentioned they may become angel investors in the future. I’m hoping they succeed; we need more angels like that.
2 comments ↓
I’m also watching MontrealStartup and I think we need a larger Angel presence. When (not if) I’ll be rich, I will do my best to give back to the community. Small investments often mean a lot. 50k$ can take you pretty far these days!
It certainly was an interesting conversation. I look forward to doing it again some time.
I guess what we have to remember that a beautiful product that cannot be financed is never going benefit anyone.
Leave a Comment