What is the most common mistake that you see young entrepreneurs make?
There is a point in every startup where it’s clear the revenue projections are too optimistic. At that point, the entrepreneur has to cut expenses to match revenue. My experience has been that entrepreneurs early in their career wait to long to adjust and burn through too much cash unnecessarily.
What is the best piece of business advice that you were ever given?
It’s almost a cliché – hire slow and fire fast. With early stage companies it’s particularly true because there is not much time or margin for error so everybody has to perform.
What does it take for you to get excited about an investment?
Something that helps frustrated people do a job substantially better than what’s on the market.
What was your first investment?
Vidacare – it sold to Teleflex for $262 million in 2013. It was almost dumb luck.
What do you enjoy about angel investing?
I consider myself a professional angel investor – it’s not a hobby and I’m not trying to “give back.” I’m looking for a return on my investment. But more importantly, I really like working with smart people who are working hard to solve a big problem that helps a large number of people.