Rick Segal: Constructing, Not Disrupting

I've written previously about Rick Segal and his evolving process to recalibrate the venture capital community of which he is a member because of the erupting phenomenon called Web 2.0. I even interviewed Jeff Clavier, another expert on Web 2.0 financing, who gave what appeared to be an opposing view.

I had dinner with with Rick earlier this week and it turns out that I had it pretty much wrong.  Jeff doesn't want to disrupt venture.  In fact, on closer examination, he and Jeff probably violently agree on most issues.

On a few days reflection, I would say that Rick is much more on track to construct something, rather than disrupt. Until we had dinner together I did not understand Rick's passion and sensitivity for startups in the Information Age.

Some of the problems Rick is trying to work through is how to mentor, motivate and finance innovators in the very early phases of a tech idea.  This could be well before a company or business plan exists. He also believes if the tech Renaissance so many people are sensing is to become a reality, rather than a tiny bubble, then the new generation of entrepreneurs need to have the chance to try and fail, then maybe try and fail again and in so doing learn what they need to learn to eventually hit one out of the park.  He's a believer in micro financing and has become convinced that small investments spread over a large number of entrepreneurs with the right talent could be very lucrative for the right investors. In fact, working with the best and the brightest of the next generation of innovators will allow him to nurture a rich talent pool that could be assembled and reassembled into the right teams for emerging companies.

Extending the team metaphor, Rick is also talking to industry veterans such as Doc Searls, myself and quite a few others to serve as coaches; to come in when and as needed, to teach whatever it is we have learned over our years in the industry--not in classroom style, but in realtime application to real efforts to rapidly turn visions into realities into products and commercial successes.

On reflection, I think this is a really great idea. The world is moving very fast right now and the torch of innovation is simultaneously being handed over to a new generation, one that has been born and raised in a computerized world. They are in a hurry and they should be. Rick sees financial opportunity, to make accelerate their development by exposing them to the wisdom of those who came first, by giving them an environment that encourages risk-taking and the financial wherewithal to get somewhere.

In act, I think it is downright brilliant.