Steve Schlafman

But by the time New Year’s rolls around, we often forget most of what happened because life gets in the way. For the last three years, I’ve carved out time at the end of the year to conduct a comprehensive annual life review. Here’s what I do promise: you’ll end the year with way more perspective and have a compass for what you want to achieve next year. I always start my annual review by making a timeline that plots the major moments and milestones from the current year.

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m joining Primary Venture Partners as a Venture Partner. Over the last six years, Ben and Brad have been co-investors, thought partners and friends

That’s why it’s critical to find the right investors who are going to support you when times are good and have your back when the shit hits the fan. While I understand and appreciate the desire and pressure to quickly raise and get back to work, taking enough time to really get to know your partners is a good investment of time and effort. If the VC you’re meeting with doesn’t want to spend the time or directly answer your questions, that should be a telling sign. What’s the firm’s philosophy and strategy on support?

I simply replied, “Don’t let the sunk costs get in the way of deciding what’s best for the business. Whenever sunk costs are influencing decisions, I always recommend coming back to this question: ‘what’s best for the company going forward? If I don’t step up in times of need, I’ll eventually develop a bad reputation and founders won’t want to work with me. If you just focus on what’s best for the company in the long-term you can’t go wrong.