Book Review: The Venture Mindset

Summary by author in HBS:

"In the late 1970s, the firms on the S&P 500 had been on that list for 35 years, on average; by 2019, the average tenure was closer to 20 years. And rapid advances in technology mean that even the most stable industries risk being upended by start-ups that can reach scale on ever-faster timelines."

• Consensus decision making doesn't work because "contrarian ideas because those are the ones that deliver outsize returns....At successful VC firms, individuals are not trumped by the group." For example Reid Hoffman backed Airbnb even though his fellow investors were opposed to the idea. 
• Keep teams small: "Think of Amazon, where meetings with more than 10 participants are quite rare. Communication in smaller teams is faster and clearer, and there is greater accountability. The setup not only streamlines decision-making but also ensures that diverse perspectives—crucial for innovative outcomes—are heard and considered."
• Assign a devil’s advocate.: To ensure that opposing views are heard, many VC partnerships make it a standard practice to assign the role of contrarian to one person or to a small team. For example, a16z often designates a “red team” of people who argue against a deal. 

What interested me most was:

• discussion of "the jockey [the team] vs. the horse [the idea]."  A bad team with a good idea is doomed to failure but a good team with an OK idea can pivot to a new idea as they learn more.  
• the books hostility to "team building," "consensus," and "bureaucracy."   [professors learn this from faculty meetings]