Olympic Gold
“Olympic Gold”– a cartoon that illustrates the difference between partners at a venture capital firm.
To most startup founders, getting the chance to talk to any partner at a VC firm is considered a big opportunity, but in reality, not all partners are created equal.
For example, some ‘partners’ are just an employee, who are named partner because there is a perception that they can do their job more effectively if anyone with whom they are dealing believes they are dealing with an actual partner.
This has become even more confusing with the proliferation of operating partners at venture firms, whose roles are functional experts (e.g. recruiting, marketing) and they have little/no role in the investment decision-making process.
Behind closed doors, and in the compensation committees of a venture firm, there is no confusion on who drives the decision-making – it is those partners with equity in a fund.
