

He’s start-ups' best friend - cominatchu
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-angel-investor-20100429,0,7971117,full.story

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bootload
Two standout quotes:

 _"... Conway cares less about the specific ideas than the people who come up
with them, and he looks carefully at the chemistry of a company's founders.
'We invest in people. We don't invest in ideas,' he said. 'Ideas can morph.
But great people end up building great companies.' ..."_

 _"... One of Conway's axioms is that the best new ideas arise from the
personal frustration of an entrepreneur. ..."_

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sosuke
It's settled then, I'm extremely frustrated and headed for success.

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paulbaumgart
_The venue was Y Combinators, a kind of "American Idol" for geeks that helps
entrepreneurs turn promising ideas into businesses that will attract
investors._

WTF?

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trafficlight
Is he suggesting startups are voted off the island?

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davidmurphy
Founder Institute does that. Actually about half of the people who go in are
kicked out.

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pmjoyce
Yeah, I hear Bootup Labs take a similar approach <joke>

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avk
I feel articles like these make (angel) investment seem like the end-all and
be-all of startups. If you just get Ron Conway to invest, you're set... Does
anyone else find that extremely silly? You're a business, not a popularity
contest.

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pg
Whether it seems silly or not, it is in fact true that if Ron invests in your
company, other investors will. Partly because they respect his judgment, and
partly because if he has invested, your chances of succeeding have increased.

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avk
I'm not disputing his judgment or the fact that your chances of succeeding
have increased. I just don't see that as the end goal whereas that's exactly
how the article ends and where it leaves the reader ("And Ashton's in, too!").

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bmalicoat
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.

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avk
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.

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bmalicoat
I mean it's fascinating that that has been successful for him. I agree the
notion of doing it is weird to me personally.

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qq66
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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ojbyrne
I'm sure Ron is great (we've met briefly), but the breathless tone of this
article makes me despair for the internet industry. Showbiz and Public
Relations do not make for innovation.

