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Jensen Huang: VCs Don't Invest in Business Plans. They Invest in Great People.

By Jensen Huang · Investing · 1 min read

VCs don't invest in business plans — business plans are easy to write. They invest in great people. Your reputation matters. Your history matters. Do they trust you?

Key Points

VCs invest in great people, not business plans — your reputation precedes you
The market size matters but it's second — because you may have to reinvent yourself
If you need to reinvent yourself, you need great people. That's why people come first.

VCs don't invest in business plans. They invest in great people. Your reputation will precede you even if your business plan writing skills are inadequate.

Business Plans Don't Matter

Huang: VCs don't invest in business plans — business plans are easy to write. I couldn't write one, but other people could. They invest in great people.

The question is — do they trust you? Your reputation matters. Your history matters. Because I had done so much work with the founders of Sun, Synopsis, and LSI Logic, and we were all very successful — your reputation will precede you even if your business plan writing skills are inadequate.

VCs don't invest in business plans. They invest in great people. Your reputation will precede you.

Market Size Is Second

Huang: You need a vision that's sufficiently large to invest in. Their probability of success is rather low. If they need to put in $10 million and the market is only $20 million, they'll never get a reasonable return. But if it's a $200 billion market, it's a rather different thing.

That last part is probably second because it's the least important. You might have to reinvent yourself over time. And if you want to reinvent yourself, you need great people. That's why great people is so important.

You might have to reinvent yourself. That's why great people is so important.