What's an Entrepreneur-in-Residence?

Whew, I can finally catch a breather and write a bit in my blog. I'll try and get back into a daily routine!

The story so far
So first, a quick summary of what I've been up to - since leaving my job at Revenue Science in late November, I've been working hard as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mohr Davidow Ventures. The people here are awesome, and I've enjoyed every day of my first three weeks. Every firm's EIR program is different, but here's another perspective at Mayfield, another VC firm.

The key elements to an EIR program
Essentially, the key elements are that:

• EIRs come from industry with background in a specific area, in my case advertising


• They are sponsored by a partner to start a company after some time period (let's say 3 months to a year)


• EIRs may come in with a specific idea, or not - in my case, not :)


• They find team members, incubate the idea, and find funding


• The EIRs will also often work with the investment team to do due diligence on new companies coming in


• There is no quid-pro-quo that you have to get funding from the specific firm the EIR is at, and no guarantee the VC will fund the business

The day-to-day is always different
The actual day-to-day has been very fun and interesting. First off, expect very little structure, similar to doing any other startup. When I first showed up at the offices, I was shown my office, computer, and the bathrooms, but then it was my job to just go... do some stuff!

The first few weeks have been focused on getting my roots into Silicon Valley. I actually showed up with a couple ideas, a few relationships, and having conducted interviews with a couple dozen folks in my target industries, but have gone broader since. I've been meeting with many folks throughout the day, be they recommendations from people at the firm, my friends in Seattle, or folks I am meeting at events. I've also been attending a lot of random get-togethers throughout the Valley, based on things I've heard of. So this week, I went to Entrepreneurship Conference at Stanford, a Microsoft event on mobile, and also the Mobile Persuasion conference also hosted at Stanford.

I've met a tremendous number of people, and have been impressed by everyone. More on that to come... ;-)

Comments

[Cheyne Rood]

That sounds like an incredible job. Congratsand enjoy!

[Adam]

So sweet! How do I get a gig like this???

[Darren Herman]

Rock-on. Looking forward to the project you eventually cook-up :) Keep me in the loop!

[Vikrant]

Keep up the hard work dude! Wish you all the best.

[Bryan Kennedy]

One of these days I'm going to have to pick your brain on how you got to be an EIR. It sounds like such a great position. Six months to think about business ideas? That sounds like heaven!

Being both a dev guy and an idea guy, I find the two mutually exclusive. After a day of coding, I don't feel at my most creative. It's only on those hikes around the bay or when I allow myself a day of respite that my best ideas emerge.

Be sure to make the best of that "free" time!

[KAP]

I am looking at setting up a EIR program for a NYC based VC that I am working with.

I am based in Palo Alto. If you have a moment, please drop me a line. Love to touch base on your experience.

[Charles Ritchey]

Recently I've been approached by a Venture Fund to become an Entrepeneur in Residence. Would love to speak with someone in greater detail about this opportunity. I recently sold my business and have some time on my hands. I love angel investing, but want to learn more about the VC world. Anyone with information please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time.

CAR