“When you are making early-stage investments, which require a lot of your personal involvement over a seven to ten year period, you can only take on so many projects. If you assume the average hold period for an early stage investment is seven years and if you make one to two investments per year, you will have between seven and fourteen portfolio companies to manage at any one time.”

— Fred Wilson

I founded my own company, highlow, on the premise that I would encounter, once or twice a year, through consulting, projects or early stage businesses I would like to be part of in the long run.

This is why I set the company in a way that profits would be partially re-invested in early stage business opportunities. I don't call them startups because some are simply not startups or geared for growth.

Don't give me a portfolio of 100 stocks of people and companies I don't know. I would not know what to do with it. Give me a few projects I understand and I can add value to.

This investment pace fits my style and my personality. I like to work on a 10 years horizon. I like to work in-depth. I like to get to know people well. I like to have a few fires lit. But it's important to manage that portfolio in a way you have enough time and energy for each project to add value.

This is active early-stage investing.

For Fred Wilson and the USV crew, it means returning a billion dollars or more/year. For François and highlow, it means creating long-term partners, learning tons of execution-related stuff, diversifying revenues of a consulting business and creating a stimulating work environment.

“This is not spray and pray, this is not following the herd, this is not momentum investing. This is thesis-driven, active early stage investing, which has always produced the best returns over time and I believe always will.”

— Fred Wilson