Every once in a while you happen upon a blog post that sums up everything you've been thinking in an especially neat and tidy fashion. Here is one of those posts written by David Shen, formerly with Yahoo and Apple and now a venture investor. In it he shares seven questions that he typically asks when he meets an entrepreneur, presumably in order to assess whether or not he'll move to the next stage. We ask similar questions of our applicants in the hopes of giving them some insight into what for-profit venture investors seek so it's nice to see these questions posted for all to see. As I've said in the past, it's great to see VCs openly blogging about their industry - the information serves to educate and enlighten all aspiring entrepreneurs.
Lynn-Ann Gries is the Chief Investment Officer of JumpStart Ventures. She previously worked in the investment banking departments at both McDonald Investments and Smith Barney (now part of Citigroup), and in the sales and trading area at Morgan Stanley. She received her MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and her BA in Economics from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of the Fund for the Future of Shaker Heights, the Great Lakes Science Center and Summer on the Cuyahoga (SOTC).