You may have seen the Atlanta Business Chronicle story this morning about my new EIR affiliation with Chrysalis Ventures. I have gotten a bunch of emails and DMs this morning about this announcement and given that this affiliation is part of my larger portfolio effort to identify my next full time career move, I thought this would be a great opportunity to provide a better understanding of what I will be doing with Chrysalis and what an EIR affiliation is all about. In a subsequent post, I am going to talk about how I have applied this portfolio approach to this phase of my career and I will highlight some of the cool start-ups I am working with. I think there are some interesting takeaways that might be helpful to others in the market looking for their next thing.
So here are some FAQs around my relationship as an EIR with Chrysalis Ventures:
- What is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR)? This position is also sometimes called an “Executive-in-Residence”. The position is typically a somewhat informal affiliation with a VC in which both the VC and EIR work together to review deals that are a “fit” with both the VC’s areas of focus and the EIR’s interest and expertise. The goal is to find a company that a) needs funding and b) could benefit from the leadership the EIR can provide, typically at the CEO level. In the interim, the VC benefits from the EIR’s expertise in a particular field and the EIR benefits from the larger volume of deal flow that the VC is seeing at any time. In some cases, an EIR can build a de novo business plan which the VC funds.
- Does that describe your relationship with Chrysalis? Yes. As I continue to search for my next full time opportunity, this affiliation provides me with a much larger lens through which to review opportunities. The team there has made some great technology investments over the years and have a specific focus on digital media (along with a big focus in health care). They share my belief that Atlanta (and the Southeast) is a great place to build a company, and they also happen to be really great people for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect. I am proud to be associated with them.
- Is this a full time gig? Does this relationship preclude you from doing other stuff? No, it’s not and no, it doesn’t. In fact, I’m encouraged to continue working with the start-ups I am advising. I will remain on boards and advisory boards. I am also continuing to do consulting. This arrangement allows me to look at a lot more opportunities. And one more thing, I am using this career transition to look at all kinds of opportunities – not just “CEO of a start-up” opportunities. This position is part of a portfolio approach to identifying my next full time gig.
- Are you going to help Chrysalis identify investment opportunities outside of your personal interests? Yes. Part of my responsibility is to help them look at deals in Atlanta – that means indentifying and teeing up promising companies even if, at first blush, I don’t think the company is a fit for my skills (or is in need of my skills).
So, hope this clarifies the role I’ve taken with Chrysalis. This should make more sense in the context of my other activities which I will expound upon in a subsequent post.
Stay tuned…
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