What is one tactical piece of advice for entrepreneurs that is contrary to popular wisdom?

“As a former operator, I’ve found that a successful fundraising event isn’t determined by how much you raise and at what value you raise it. A successful fundraising attracts the right investors and the right amount of capital to your business to maximize your likelihood of success.”

What in the world of tech do you find to be the most interesting?

“Our portfolio company Viv is pursuing higher-order artificial intelligence functions such as ”reasoning”. For example, determining, through context and language, what does someone want to do. Then Viv writes its own program to get it done in 1/50th of a second. Pretty mind-blowing stuff.”

What is your favorite book? Why?

“Growing up near Boston in the 1980s (the height of Larry Bird’s powers), I read Season on the Brink, about Bobby Knight and his IU team. Bobby Knight has a lot of faults, but his quote “The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important” has always resonated with me.”

How do you spend time away from work?

“As the father of three school age kids, I spend a disproportionate amount of my time on soccer fields and baseball/softball diamonds across northern Illinois.”