It looks like my focus on investors is starting to bear fruit. I’ve met with several angels and venture capitalists over the past month and have been somewhat surprised at the amount of interest they’ve showed in my background. In previous meetings with entrepreneurs and others a brief summary of my background has sufficed to introduce myself and my motivation. But in these more recent meetings the conversations have gone much deeper. It’s clear that these investors are assessing my experience and credibility. In my most recent meeting the conversation almost took on the tone of a job interview as the VC asked my opinions on various strategic matters one of his portfolio companies was dealing with and several “how would you handle this?” topics.
This is all good as coming out of these meetings are referrals to other investors or principals at several startups. It’s still too early to judge whether these will lead directly to my next position but I am definitely getting myself on people’s radar and it feels that the continuation of this process will eventually lead to a match between a company that needs my capabilities and my own interests and desires.
I will not post specifics such as with whom I am meeting or what companies are involved but will try to convey enough information about these encounters so that those reading this blog will get a sense of my progress.
I would also like to make note of one other set of activity. I recently, via my networking, have obtained introductions to people working at the technology transfer/licensing offices at MIT and Boston University. This offers the potential to get connected with technologists looking to commercialize their work. If this does yield something of interest it would lead down a different path than my investor networking would as it would lead me to starting my own company as opposed to joining an existing one. I remain open to either possibility.