|
|
Article: Venture capitalists need to think long term.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- February 21, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In early 1998, Phil Baker and his co-founders at a fledgling company called Think Outside Inc. got the idea of creating a folding keyboard for handheld computers. They checked in with some prominent venture capital firms but found scant interest.
"The initial reaction from VCs was, basically, that it didn't fit their model at the time, which was primarily focused on the Internet and dot-coms," says Baker, Think Outside's co-founder and president. The company rounded up $9 million from individual investors. "They were too busy with their formula, and when someone came along with a different formula, they didn't have time for it."
The dot-com bubble has ...