It's one runner, one flame. If the torchbearer falls, it's a big deal. If she doesn't make it to the next runner, she lets down everyone ahead of her in line, as well as all of the runners who carried the torch before her. Either they're torchbearers, or they're not. Over the past few months, I've spent some time working with friends at Flatiron Partners, one of the biggest Internet venture firms on the East Coast.
Entrepreneurs think that the selection process used by VCs is a big mystery.
They're dying to know how VC firms decide who gets the big bucks and who gets nothing. The answer is surprisingly simple. When venture-capital firms look for entrepreneurs on whom to risk their money, they aren't searching for a great idea, or even great credentials. The place is teeming with torchbearers, with folks who are willing to take responsibility for carrying a flame. As more and more of us emigrate to Free Agent Nation, a place where more and more people are their own chief executives, the trend toward rewarding torchbearers will only increase.