> I think the "help them" bit is good, too, and something a lot of VC's don't seem to be that good at.
I look forward to the day I meet a VC good at helping a company. I think, most of them are good at motivating founders by creating economics that displease the founder if they don't perform, but that's more of a stick than a carrot. I'd love to meet and hear about a VC truly focused on the carrot side of things.
In our customer portfolio we have several of these. But definitely not all of them. VCs good at helping companies are usually early stage. Later on you're more or less expected to fend for yourself unless a crisis hits.
One way in which such help materializes is in the form of a board, and the quality of that board can make a huge difference. It could even be a net negative.
I want to say something snarky about bombarding a company with electrons to ionize it, but it's actually a pretty good metaphor.
I think the "help them" bit is good, too, and something a lot of VC's don't seem to be that good at.