It is All in A Name
Billionaire Vinod Khosla doesn’t want to be called a venture capitalist. And that is news. Both the Wall Street Journal and Forbes ran a blurb on this fact. Now that is good PR.
“Call him a visionary for his role co-founding Sun Microsystems Inc. Call him a rainmaker for his prescient investments in companies like Juniper Networks while at Kleiner Perkins. Call him a pioneer for his early commitment to clean technology at his firm Khosla Ventures.You can call billionaire Vinod Khosla many things. Just don’t call him a venture capitalist,” quotes the Lizette Chapman, Venture Capital Dispatch, The Wall Street Journal.
” “I call myself a venture assistant,” Khosla said. “It’s about assisting entrepreneurs.”,” quotes Tomio Geron, Forbes.com.
I guess when you’ve had as much success as Vinod, that you can asked to be called whatever you like. After all, it is all in a name.
But, I beg to differ on his negative take of the definition of Venture Capitalist. Working with the breed for over a decade, I say that those who do it well, do it by assisting entrepreneurs. VCs who get into the trenches alongside management teams are those who foster success. They call themselves Venture Capitalist and they do so with pride. After all, it is all in a name.