Disruptive Thoughts

In my Fixing the VC Industry post, I discussed that venture capital is due for a shake up. I also mentioned that certain venture capitalists, in certain market segments, are already venturing away from the “traditional” guiding principles of VC investing.

It was my opinion at the time that Union Square Ventures (USV) was one of these firms. With the news of their investment in Feedburner, this opinion only becomes reinforced.

From the USV blog:

This was not a traditional venture funding round as Feedburner didn’t need our money.

They didn’t need their money! So why did the deal happen?

Eric, from the Syndicator blog, speculates that the deal was made to grant Feedburner access to the “USV rolodex”. While this may have been part of the reason, as an innovative VC firm, USV has a lot more to offer than simply a rolodex.

I bet they tapped into USV for a number of reasons (is Fred’s blog not a wonderful marketing tool?, can they not offer tremendous support and assistance?, aren’t they more than simply an ATM?, …). Fred (as always) sums it up beautifully in an earlier post:

I would suggest one rule and only one. Be the entrepreneur’s partner. Help him or her. Be there for them. Support them. Counsel them. Share the risk with them. Have fun with them. Laugh and cry with them. And make boatloads of money with them. It’s a time tested formula and it will work forever.

I can’t wait to see how this investment plays out, and the role that USV will play over the coming months. I bet we’ll see a lot of non-traditional VC involvement by Fred & Brad. I think it was a brilliant move by Feedburner to include them in the team. I’m impressed by the astute move (and I hope they buy awesome jerseys) and I’m excited for the team to make boatloads of money.

Update:

Fred has a post up on USV’s blog about why they invested in Feedburner. The assistance already starts (this is a great thing). Well done guys, you’re making me smile.

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