Sublime

If the founding team had previous successful exits, VCs are often willing to take a leap of faith on traction.

I had to be honest with my players—there were going to be times I didn’t like them or didn’t like what they did. That’s just a reality of human existence; there will be people with whom you click better than others. But I wanted them to know I loved them, and a poor choice or poor playing or poor attitude would never take away my love. They were no

Wendi giggles and suggests that, in addition to his many functions and duties, Gil should be my bodyguard. He already is, I tell her. And yet that word doesn’t cut it. That word isn’t adequate to what he is. Gil guards my body, my head, my game, my heart, my girlfriend. He’s the one immovable object in my life. He’s my life guard. I particularly en

He spoke to each of us differently. This was never an affectation. He had an uncanny ability to pick up intonations, inflections, and body language in every one of his players. When he listened, he had what I like to think of as a built-in, shockproof lie detector. We used to have a saying on the Celtics, “Don’t lie to me, boy!” That came from Red.

“Success lulls you. It makes the most ambitious of us complacent and sloppy.” As Summitt spoke, Tennessee had won five NCAA Championships, but only once when they were favored to win. “On

VCs are looking for a curious mix of character traits in a founder. We want confidence and optimism, but we also require coachability and collegiality. We want to know the founder has a headstrong vision, but we’ll also need to be able sit down together to make tough decisions about future funding rounds and exit opportunities.

In January 1942, two memoranda arrived on Holcomb’s desk within a week of each other suggesting the creation of Marine Corps commandos. The first was from his superior, Admiral Ernest J. King, the recently appointed Chief of Naval Operations. As enamored with defense as he was with temperance—“When they get in trouble they send for the sons-of-bitc