Yesterday, I had the chance to meet with an experienced Silicon Valley investor (who’s name will remain confidential.) We had a chat about an opportunity in the green energy space that was very productive. But the part of the conversation that really struck me and stuck with me, was the investor’s personal story of survival with cancer.

Not long ago, the investor was diagnosed with a particularly lethal type of cancer and medical professionals advised the investor to prepare personal effects, the investor would be dead in the not distant future. The investor initially bought into the diagnosis even while conferring with other medical professionals. However, the investor realized at some point that the medical profession were like “buggy whip manufacturers in 1905.” These folks would lovingly hand craft you the finest buggy whip ever made, but were ignoring the automobile revolution entirely.

This investor had made a $2M investment that didn’t pan out in a company sometime prior to all of this and in the process made some contacts with a physician that was working on new treatments for this disease with some success. The investor used the contacts and chose to undertake the new treatment which has resulted in a positive outcome. The combination of contacts and attitude made the difference between life and death for this person. It was an incredible story that I was grateful to be able to hear.

While losing $2M would be devestating to an overwhelming number of people, it’s well worth the price if your life is held in the balance. There is somehow a pleasing symmetry to this story about risk, reward, personal networks, and attitude. While raising funds for ventures can be a very stressful activity, it also has great ancilliary benefits in terms of contacts made and stories shared, like this one.


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