Journal — Dust Road Ventures
Low-volume · High-signal · Worth forwarding
Long-form writing from Errol Damelin and Dust Road Ventures. One piece every few months, when there is something worth saying.
- · Thesis in action
The Portfolio Company I Almost Didn't Back
The first meeting was rough. The deck was rough. The reasonable move was to pass. The deal I would have lost was one of the better ones I have written — and the lesson is the same every time. Conviction is the position you hold against your own first read.
Read → - · Operator lessons
What Building Three Companies Taught Me About Backing Founders
Supply Chain Connect, Wonga, Tide. Fifteen years on the operating side gave me a working library of how things break. Backing founders is, mostly, applying that library before they have had to write their own.
Read → - · Founder signal
What I Look for in 30 Minutes
Most first meetings are an hour, but the decision is made in the first thirty minutes. Here is what gets read in that window, what does not, and why the underneath is almost always the answer.
Read → - · Thesis in action
Why I Invest on Dust Roads
The cheques worth writing are written before the road is paved. Three companies in, the pattern repeats: arrive while the surface is still rough, or do not arrive at all.
Read →
