I listened to the Capital Allocators podcast with Ted Seides the other day. He was interviewing financial writer Sebastian Mallaby, the author of Power Law. In the interview, he spoke about what he gathered as the essential attributes of being a successful VC. He stated the first was the VC's network, the second was having a prepared mind, and the third was company picking. All of those, I agree.
I interviewed Ed Wilson of Impulsum Ventures and asked him what he thought the most critical attributes made VCs successful. He told me it was like real estate's "location, location, location" mantra, except it was "network, network, network."
He explained-
Network helps you uncover the best deal flow to select the best founders/companies.
Network allows you to raise funds needed to allocate to these companies.
Network gives you the most contacts to help in customer and talent acquisition post-investment to raise enterprise value.
I agree more with Ed Wilson. Podcast to be launched soon!