Anatomy of a Venture Capitalist

This week I had occasion to make a presentation at a meeting of one of the investors in my fund, Jacobs Capital Group.  Awesome folks, the people there, and they specifically asked me to present the “Anatomy of a Deal” in which I would describe one of my portfolio investments and its associated twists and turns.

In addition to being asked to be professional and informative, I was told, “Be funny.”  No pressure.  So I decided to ditch the professional and go for funny and informative (the informative part being a description and demo of PatientSafe Solutions’ product and our investment in the company).  To kick off my Anatomy of a Deal discussion, I started with a little anatomy lesson for the crowd of 50 or so venture capitalists, strategic investors, lawyers (there are always lawyers!) and assorted other people in the Jacobs Fund community.

I am not a doctor, but a healthcare VC, so I had to focus my anatomy lesson on something I am qualified to describe, that being the anatomy of my esteemed colleagues in the field.  It was so well-received (so much for informative, funny appears to be good enough!) that I have been asked by many for a copy of my chart below, probably so people can use it as a primer to prepare for meetings with my venture capital brethren.  Given this, I decided to share it on the blog.

Anatomy of a Venture Capitalist

Of course you will note that I used a middle-aged white guy as my anatomy model.  Just wanted to make it maximally realistic!  Have a great post-JP Morgan weekend, those of you who were here among the gray flannel throngs.  Rest those feet!