Updates & Advice
Updates & Advice
Updates & Advice
Routine That’s Not Routine: A Week in the Life of Neal
In my last blog, I talked about making time for what’s important to you. The short version is that if something matters to you and helps you be your best, it’s easier to balance multiple priorities and areas of your life—work, family and friends, mentoring, other...
Life Tips: Making Time for What’s Important to You
Balancing work, time with family and friends, travelling, and staying healthy is a big job for anyone, including myself. But somehow, I make time for it all and then some—squeezing in things like teaching and mentoring somewhere in between too. People often ask me how...
Framing Your Unique Value Proposition
In my 30+ years of investment experience, I’ve worked with countless CEOs, founders, and other investors; I’ve seen unfortunate failures, wild successes, and everything in between. I’m often asked about my path to becoming a venture capitalist and what a blueprint for...
The Tech Bubble Burst: What That Means for VC
Remember the dot-com bubble burst? When the internet was starting to take off from around 1995 to about 2001, everyone wanted a piece of this shiny new thing. Internet-related tech companies attracted massive amounts of attention from venture capitalists and...
Congratulations to My Good Friend, Jim Pugh
Two decades ago, visionary and Founding Donor—my good friend, Jim Pugh—set out to build one of the greatest performing arts centers in the world: Dr. Phillips Center. Dr. Phillips Center is a world-class hub for all of the best international, national, and local...
Speakers From CEO and Board Leadership Class 2022: Part Two
Part One talked about the first half of the 13 speakers we had in this year’s CEO Board Governance class, and here’s the second set. All were equally fabulous and provided invaluable lessons to the students. Having such engaging speakers makes for highly interested...
Speakers From CEO and Board Leadership Class 2022: Part One
It was good to be back in person with Eileen Odum teaching this year’s CEO Board Governance class at the University of Washington Foster School of Business! Year after year, we have had a roster of remarkable CEOs and accomplished board members sharing their words of...
Venture Capital and the Age of Social Reckoning
From the global economic recession caused by the pandemic to George Floyd’s death empowering the Black Lives Matter movement to overall desperate calls to action for social justice and equality—the venture capital industry has much to learn from the age of social...
10 Lessons I’ve Learned in 25 Years
I’ve been in the venture capital industry a long time—getting my foot in the door in the 90’s after a few shots at being the CEO of technology companies. Though they happened to be failed attempts, I’m grateful for the opportunities those experiences presented because...
It Takes a Community: Aspen Fire Needs Your Help
One of my favorite places on earth is Aspen, Colorado. Because I spend a lot of time there, I stay quite active and contribute to the community as much as possible, such as serving on the board of ACES, an environmental organization. A recent initiative that has my...