David Cohen

You may have a small network, but growing that network has become easier with the use of social tools. LinkedIn, Conspire, even Facebook and Twitter allow you to grab branches that may have previously seemed out of reach.

Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong!

I think entrepreneurs really appreciate directness and honesty, coupled with empathy.

I'm an investor in a lot of things that have to do with human-computer interaction.

If I'm an entrepreneur and I have an idea, and I don't have the development talent around me but I need to find a developer, I would do my selection just like I would with hiring an employee.

I think just calling up a VC and saying 'I want to pitch you' is an enormous waste of time.

People are starting companies at young ages. They fail fast, learn a lot, and keep going.

If you're pitching to investors for the first time and expecting them to be so blown away by how thoroughly amazing your pitch is that they write a check on the spot - well, prepare to be disappointed.

I've done a bunch of consulting; I've actually spent time in Singapore, England, Denmark, all over.

The Internet is full of choices, and nobody is going to make the choice to use a product that is hard to use or unattractive.

Consumers have zero time for products that are not simple, intuitive, and attractive to use. This is especially true with Internet products, where clean and useful design is a prerequisite to keeping anyone on your site for more than 30 seconds.

We're pretty broad as investors. Our thesis is work with great entrepreneurs that believe they can change the world. But there are specific areas that we get excited about - areas like hard tech, deep tech, companies that deal with really difficult technology, etc.