Fred Wilson Quotes

Most adults I know start their Internet session at Google, and most kids I know start their Internet session at either Facebook or MySpace.

Foursquare's adoption of a game dynamic when it launched is a particularly clever implementation of a social hook.

It's not easy for an entrepreneur to find the time to blog. But for those who do it, it is a great tool to communicate with the various stakeholders in their business and build a reputation for thought leadership.

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.

I believe Android will be stronger in the developing world than it is in the developed world.

It's upsetting to me that you have to be a millionaire to invest in your friend's start-up.

We need new medical approaches to preventing and/or curing disease. We need new scientific approaches to generating, storing, and being more efficient with energy. Maybe we need more space exploration. Maybe we need more undersea exploration.

The fact is that the amount of money startups raise in their seed and Series A rounds is inversely correlated with success

Many artists stick to making and hire a manager to focus on their business. Artists that build websites and mobile apps can do that, too.

All markets have boom and bust cycles, and I think venture capital market has even more exaggerated boom and bust cycles.

The Internet is a computing platform built on top of core technology. Applied technology is what gets built on top of that: It's Web services.

Blog-based businesses have lower cost structures and are more 'authentic,' and as a result are drawing larger shares of ad budgets.

I generally blog between 5:30 A.M. and 7 A.M. I will from time to time add something during the day, but for the most part blogging is an early morning activity for me.

If you want to unleash more creativity in your company, you need to allow for a little contamination. It is the sand in the oyster that creates the pearl.

The entire world is now a rival to Silicon Valley. No country, state, region, nor city has a lock on innovation in technology anymore.

Certainly anything that is news or opinion needs to be free on the Web, because the Web is this very fluid medium that is very much driven by links and the flow of visitors through a discussion via links.

Ideas that most people derided as ridiculous have produced the best outcomes. Don't do the obvious thing.

Facebook is not an unstoppable juggernaut. There are a lot of other things people can do on the web.

If you want to create something great and do it faster than the competition, you need to be action oriented.

Board meetings should not be for the benefit of the board. They should be for the benefit of the CEO and the senior team.

Markets come and go. Good business don't.

You simply can't be tentative in a startup. You have to go for it at every chance you get. And if the leader of the organization is anxious, his or her fear pervades the organization. Everything comes from the top in a company. So if you are starting a company or building one, face your fears and move past them. It's critically important to your company.

Not only do you have to put yourself in harms way in service of your country, you have to leave your families at home. It is a great sacrifice.

Don't try to solve the entire problem on day one.

To see things differently requires you to be wired a little differently.

I would like to reiterate that I don't want any profiles of me. I am not newsworthy.

Customers are a great way to finance a business for many reasons. First, customer financing is typically non dilutive. They want something from you other than equity in your business. Customers also help you fit your product to the market. And customers will help debug and improve the quality of the product.

The strategy of Tumblr is very elegant.. The atomic unit of user experience is the same as the ads.

Skyping with your spouse works well enough, but apparently it is hard to get the kids to hang out on Skype for long.

Investing in management means building communication systems, business processes, feedback, and routines that let you scale the business and team as efficiently as possible.

When I see people laughing at ideas and companies we have backed, I smile. It means we are going to make a lot of money on that investment.

Startups are rapidly changing systems. If you use an annual review cycle, you aren't getting feedback at the same pace that you need to adapt and change the business.

I use beauty as a way of helping people to receive difficult or upsetting ideas. The topical issues are merely a vehicle for making one aware of one's own perceptual shift-which is the real thrill.

I'm a free speech bigot. I don't like censorship; I just don't think it's a good thing.

Early in a startup, product decisions should be hunch driven. Later on, product decisions should be data driven.

Being an entrepreneur is hard. Having supportive and caring investors helps.

There is a difference between hiring a CEO and turning over control of the business.

Games are the most social of all things on the web.

New York's niche is content, and content is becoming more valuable. Just think about what is more valuable: MTV or the cable system that you use to get MTV? Howard Stern or the radio station you use to listen to him? Ultimately, technology becomes a commodity, and content - real, true branded content - becomes more valuable.

I think 'crazy' is a compliment. I think you make money with people who are crazy.

Equity capital is expensive. Every time you do a raise, you dilute.

Given New York City's cultural diversity, it has always attracted creative people.

I don't like to talk about myself. I like to talk about stuff that's happening, stuff that's going to happen, and the people who are going to make it happen.

I also like to use a sensational headline. Many people read blogs in aggregators, which generally show only the headline. So you have to give people a reason to click through. Blogs need to be real and personal. Reading it should be like hanging out with you. I play music for my readers. I show them videos I like. I tell them what I did over the weekend. And I tell them what is happening in the technology, Internet, and VC markets.

Not acknowledging that beauty is complex-that's the problem. I enjoy making it complex for people, because that's my world.

Marketing is for companies who have sucky products.

There are so many startups out there raising money. I don't think this is a bad thing. It's a good thing. Entrepreneurship is in vogue. Innovators are innovating. Makers are making.

Venture capitalists are professional money managers. We are provided capital to invest as long as we can return it to our investors with a strong return in a reasonable amount of time. A strong return is three times cash on cash. A reasonable amount of time is ten years max.