VC’s: What Not to Do

Guy Kawasaki takes it to the rack again today with a stunning piece about what it takes to be a great VC. But what about the things a VC shouldn’t do?
1. Pressure a small company do more than it can do well: less is more.
2. Try to run the company: if you don’t trust the CEO, fire her.
3. Overlook the technology: the only long-term source of competitive advantage.
4. Pressure you to grow before you’re ready: YouTube envy will get you nowhere.
5. Force a partnership with every other portfolio company: awkward goat sex…
6. Do lunch: it’s hard to concentrate on anything before the food shows, and it’s hard to talk about anything once it does.

There are also a few things a VC can do that Guy didn’t address:
1. Ask for more. I’m always relieved in Board meetings when VC’s do that for you: ship sooner, sell more, work harder.
2. Recruiting: a VC usually has swank offices for interviewing recruits, and he can imply that even if your company fails, he’ll hire the recruit somewhere else.
3. Really think: some board meetings feel staged, with everybody trying to sound good rather than really thinking, but it’s always nice when a VC is able to get down to what’s really going on in a business.

Also, in the non-sequitur department, thanks to Nils Gilman, we have the “greatest obituary headline ever,” from today’s LA Times: “Jack Macpherson, 69; La Jolla legend known for ‘huge beer orgies.’” Macpherson was founder of the Mac Meda Destruction Company that terrorized the La Jolla surf scene in the 1960′s.