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Betsy Flanagan: Now when entrepreneurs decide that they want to raise funding, what recommendations do you have for them or what should they think about in terms of finding the right VC, in terms of--I know, obviously, they should look at the industry. What are the companies they have funded, if they’re funding a competitor, I mean those are the--you know, can you talk a little about that?

David Hornik: Well I guess I would start with people, people, people. It’s all about the people. So I’m sure that there are plenty of entrepreneurs who really cannot get along with me and those people should not take my money. And, you know, that’s just because when you have an investor and they put money into your company, they’re going to be involved in your company for as long as there’s a company, essentially. Certainly that’s our model. Our model is, I invest in a company. I invest early, most often. I almost always sit on the board of directors and I try and be as helpful as possible and I’m certainly involved.

And so, if you take money from someone who you don’t ultimately respect or like or trust or, you know, generally think is the right person, you know, it’s a little bit like marrying someone you don’t trust and respect and like and think is the right person. Eventually, you know, that probably won’t work out that well.

So I really think that the biggest question is, “Who is this person?” And there are lots of things that go into that, right? I mean, to a certain--what areas of expertise does he or she have and what other investments does he or she usually have and what’s their history? And then the other thing I would say is that I don’t think any entrepreneur should ever take money from an investor without having spent time talking with other people who have taken money from that investor. I just can’t imagine. When I’m looking at a company and I’m talking with an entrepreneur, I’d then call, you know, their kindergarten teacher, I’d call other people for whom they’ve worked and people who’ve worked for them. I’d do all these reference calls. Why as an entrepreneur wouldn’t you do the same on your investor?

And my experience is there is an incredible correlation between the people I think are really smart, really good entrepreneurs and the ones who have called without asking me. Just, “Hey David, you’re an investor in Six Apart and PayCycle and whatever.” And so I’d chatter with your CEO and so it turns out, you know, I hope that that’s a good thing for me because I think that I’d have a great relationship with the companies in which I have invested because my view is that my role is to be as helpful as possible without telling you how to run your company.

And so if you’re that kind of entrepreneur that wants input and wants help but, you know, is independent and going to make decisions, then that’s a great fit. If you’re not, if you’re looking for something else, you’re looking for someone who’ll be more, you know, more authoritarian about, you know, how you develop your product or particular decisions or whatever, I just don’t think that’s my role and so you might grow frustrated with me.