When we raised venture capital in 2003, it was one of the only deals that the firm had done at that time, highlighting the challenges of building hardware.

I co-founded and was the CEO of three startups, starting with V-Extreme in 1995, where we developed low bandwidth streaming video technology that was sold to Microsoft for $75 million in 1997.

One of the early companies that joined Link Exchange was Auction Web, which later became known as eBay, highlighting how even successful companies needed promotion in their early days.

We decided to forgo our initial revenue from website creation to focus on building a network, which made it easier to attract more companies to join Link Exchange.

Starting a venture capital firm in 2009, we aimed to create a platform that provides entrepreneurs with the confidence and support of a seasoned CEO, enabling them to connect with influential figures.

We differentiated ourselves by combining angel investments with venture investments, a strategy that was initially met with skepticism from established VCs.

We realized that if PayPal failed, it would create a massive loss of over $200 million in venture capital, so we decided to pitch our best ideas to each other, including an early version of LinkedIn.

When I left the company, we grew from zero revenues to about $150 million in recurring revenue, leading to a sale to Microsoft for around $800 million.

We decided to fund a large number of early-stage startups with small amounts of money, providing them with significant help, which was a departure from traditional VC practices.