By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Basil: I remember when I was I student, I had no idea about business or life. It’s embarrassing how little we know in our early twenties, and what I’ve been trying to do is influence as many students as I can to think about entrepreneurship as a
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: And now what could angels do to increase their chances of success? Basil: I think for angels . . . number one is education. Angel investing is also changing right now, faster than ever before. There have been angels since we lived in caves.
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Basil: Finding good mentors it is something that you can do that’ll make a big difference in your success. I would go even further – and I think it’s a natural law. I have for more than ten years been going out looking for successful entrepreneurs who
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: If you were to get into a situation where you could collect dividends for a long time, would you still think of early exits? Basil: There are two parts to the question, I think. One part is, is that a good thing to do? Another part
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: I saw you tweeted that Google wants to buy pre-revenue companies. Basil: Yes. I was fascinated to hear Charles Rim, who’s one of the top five guys at Google who buys companies, said that on a webinar, M&A class, offered by a group called Corum. Yes,
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: Now, we can talk about your favorite subject, which is exits. Basil: Yes, again, I often go on for a whole day on that subject.
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: Why do you think you’re better suited to being an entrepreneur, as opposed to being an employee? Basil: A lot of the reasons are the ones that we talked about earlier with the characteristics I would look for in an entrepreneur. For example, I have to
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: What is your preferred investment type? Basil: You really ask a hard question there. Five years ago, if you had asked me, I would have said common shares. I have been one of the strongest advocates in America of simple structures and common shares. But in