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
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: What do you with those businesses that your fund rejects, if anything? Basil: I try and help everybody in some way. My personal goal, which I don’t always achieve, but when things are working the way I want them to, I always want to leave every
By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold Irina: Do teams have to have prior business experience? Basil: I don’t require that. I don’t think it’s a good filter, because if you look at the track record of entrepreneurs, there’s very little correlation between whether it’s their first venture or their third or fourth or