Influential venture capitalist Fred Wilson has been writing some very interesting, very personal stuff lately at his blog, A VC.
On New Year's Eve he wrote one of his most interesting yet:
I've wanted to write a year end post for days. I actually wrote one and stored it as a draft. But it comes across as a whiny complaint about the shitty year that 2012 was. And it was in many ways a shitty year for me. But the reason I couldn't publish that post is it didn't capture the greater picture that 2012 represents for me.
It seems the reason the year was bad for Wilson is that he failed to make a single investment. He says he hasn't invested in a company since the Summer of 2011, though he's close to making an investment right now.
Wilson seems to be feeling a little lost right now, as he, like many others, grapple with what's next for tech:
My venture investing career has three phases all roughly 6-8 years long. The first, at Euclid, was software to internet. The second, at Flatiron was internet to bubble. And the third, at USV, has been web 2 to mobile. I have always used a new firm to denote a new investment phase for me. Throw away the old. Start with the new.
And I feel that 2012 is the next demarcation year for me but this time I have to do it in an existing firm with an existing portfolio. That is new for me and I don't have a model for how to do it.
Speaking of his firm, USV seems to be doing just fine. Wilson may not have made any investments, but his partners made a dozen or so investments. And 2012 was a big year for USV, overall:
The funny thing about 2012 is that our firm made more money in 2012 than ever, with some huge carry producing events. And yet I think of it as a wasted year professionally. I don't like harvesting, I like planting the seeds, and helping them grow into fully flowered plants. That's where I get joy from my job.
Read the whole thing at his site, it's worth it to see his commenters trying to cheer him up >
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