Back the Market Then Find the Team

"He was fixated on large markets – sometimes asking how many large companies have been built in small markets. He relished high gross margins believing that they provided lots of cushion for management mistakes and, in well-run businesses, would lead to large amounts of free cash flow and high valuations."

"Don had no sympathy for investment crusades or what others held in vogue. Just because biotech investments held the promise of better health for millions did not mean biotech startups would make for good investments. Later, when some of our competitors went berserk with Greentech investments, Don rolled his eyes."

"As investors, Don and Pierre reflected their circumstances. Don was drawn to companies addressing large markets and, though he admired idiosyncratic engineers, was not particularly interested in understanding the technical particulars. Pierre, on the other hand, liked deeply technical undertakings and was less comfortable investing where, at the outset, he did not detect a pronounced technology advantage. At one point, while we were trying to invest in biotech companies, both Don and Pierre attended weekly evening classes at Stanford. At the end of the class it was Pierre, not Don, who would linger behind to grill the professor about an obscure detail of the lecture."