The Theme is Team

As head of Comcast's venture capital arm, I know you're always seeking good companies to invest in across many sectors, not just in content and media. So what are the top things that you look for?

There's a theme throughout this interview, and the theme is team. The first thing you look for in any company that you're considering an investment in is you look at the team and do the founders have a vision? And not only do they have a vision, but are they able to sell that vision? Are they able to sell that vision to recruits? Are they able to sell it to investors? Are they able ultimately to sell it to customers? That is paramount to the success of any company, one.

Two, then you look at the product - what are they selling? Is it a product that solves a problem, addresses a need? And then ultimately you look at product market fit. It might be a nice product, but are people willing to pay for it such that it results in a profitable, not only a profitable company, but preferably a hugely profitable company?

Have you run across companies where you loved the idea, you loved the product, but you weren't thrilled about the team?

Yeah, I think I didn't love the team, because I wasn't convinced that they understood their business. I wasn't convinced that they understood their business, they had a vision for where the business was going, and that at the end of the day, they were going to be able to sell that vision to customers.

But you went ahead and you invested anyway.

But we went ahead and invested anyway and, you know, I'm sorry to say that good teams sometimes fail. Bad teams almost always fail. And that is one hard lesson that I have had to learn in my eight years of investing.