An Engineer’s View of Venture Capitalists
By Nick Tredennick, with Brion Shimamoto, Dynamic Silicon
I first encountered venture capitalists (VCs) in 1987. Despite a bad start, I caught the start-up bug. In the years since, I have worked with more than 30 start-ups as founder, advisor, engineer, executive, and board member. It’s a lot more than that if you count all the times I’ve tried to help “nerd” friends (engineers) connect with the “rich guys” (VCs). Naturally, I’ve formed opinions along the way. Many books and articles eulogize VCs. But here I want to present an engineer’s view of VCs. It may sound like I’m maligning VCs. That’s not my intent. And I’m not trying to change human nature. VCs know how to deal with engineers, but engineers don’t know how to deal with VCs. VCs take advantage of this situation to maximize the return for the venture fund’s investors. Engineers are getting short-changed.