I recently reviewed Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s book Venture Deals, in THIS ENTRY. I concluded that it is an effective tool for leveling the playing field between sophisticated investors and emerging entrepreneurs. I have subsequently recommended the book to number of students as well as emerging entrepreneurs, all of whom expressed positive feedback.
Thus, I was excited when Brad agreed to chat with me via Skype to discuss the book’s genesis, along with the reaction of his fellow venture capitalists to the book’s revelation of numerous fundraising “secrets.”
In 1998, a new type of game show was aired in the United Kingdom. Rather than a panel of contestants competing to answer rapid-fire questions, the new show involved a single contestant who was often given a seemingly unlimited amount of time to ponder each question. In fact, contestants were even given a chance to call a friend and poll the audience for help. 
In 1899, George Wingfield was a nineteen-year-old cowboy when he attempted to borrow money collateralized by his last worldly possession, a woman’s diamond ring.
The 15th century French mathematician and religious philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote, “Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.” This loosely translates to, “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.” A more literal translation is: “I was too lazy to pull together my thoughts in advance, so you will have to sort through the jumble of ideas I am about to share with you.”
Who is this character?