to vc or not?

Filed in archive Venture Capital on January 18, 2005

SiliconBeat reports about Philippe Kahn's exit with LightSurf:

"Turns out, there's nobody behind it besides the CEO, Philippe Kahn. "LightSurf never raised any money," he told us. "I financed it personally, however in the first year we started generating cash. That's how I like to run businesses."

Apparently, that also goes for the other two companies he built, Starfish and Borland. "Never venture capital, built on retained earnings," he says. "I am very proud of that. It shows that it can absolutely be done. Note that I am a limited partner in a couple of VC firms, but never take it for myself!" He's an investor Technology Crossover Ventures and Velocity Cap."

Mhh apparently TCV has become an expert in very large rounds (i.e Techtarget). Strange Attitude.