Brevity

The author keeps it short and sweet on the last pitch of Machine Gun with Vail Powder Guides, February 2024.  Photo by Topher Donahue.

My mentor in the venture business and the Founder of Boulder Ventures, Merc Mercure, prized brevity over all other qualities in our business relationship.  Merc believed that clear, focused communication among partners enabled better decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, and reduced ambiguity amidst the chaos of our startup investments. 

As an aspirant VC, Merc enforced brevity in our daily interactions.  Here’s what that sounded like in a typical conversation:

Kyle:  Merc, I’d like to lead the Series A round for Hauser Chemical Research.

Merc:  What do they do?

Kyle:  They use ethanol column extraction to make active pharmaceutical ingredients from plant substances at scale.

Merc:  Too wordy.  What do they do?

Kyle:  They make Taxol for Bristol Myers Squibb.

Merc:  Is that a good business?

Kyle:  $720,000 per kilo.  BMS ordered 200 kilos.

Merc:  Approved.

Merc was the founder and CEO of Ball Aerospace and believed that every great technology business could be described in two words (Satellite Manufacturing).

Here’s a Merc List of the biggest technology companies today with their two-word descriptions:

Tesla                Electric Cars

nVidia              AI Chips

Apple              Electronic Gadgets

Microsoft         Computer Software

Facebook         Social Networks

Amazon           Online Shopping

Google            Internet Search

Here’s a Merc List of our 10 most successful investments at Boulder Ventures:

Array BioPharma                    Cancer Drugs

ArcherDX                               Cancer Tests

Black Bear Energy                  Commercial Solar

BroadHop                               4G Software

Clarabridge                              Callcenter software

Datavail                                   Database Services

Lefthand Networks                 Ethernet Storage

LineRate                                  Proxy Services

Rally Software                        Developer Tools

Xifin                                        Billing Software

We strive to enforce brevity every day at Boulder Ventures.  Brevity promotes intellectual rigor in our investments and allows for precise communication among the BV partners and our serial entrepreneurs.  It also saves time for more climbing and skiing. 

Merc would approve.