Adopting a VC Mindset: Make Smarter Bets and Achieve Growth by Thinking Like a Venture Capitalist [Video]

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford GSB Professor Ilya Strebulaev joins Matt Abrahams to discuss how the venture mindset can help anyone — investor or not — weigh alternatives, make decisions, and move forward without looking back.

“The smartest venture capitalists ask a very different question from what most of us ask,” says Strebulaev. Instead of asking “‘Why should we invest?’, venture capitalists approach every new opportunity with [the] question: Why should we not proceed?”

This contrarian mindset is at the heart of Strebulaev’s new book, The Venture Mindset, which reveals how the strategies of top VCs can help anyone make sharper decisions. As he explains, VCs will say “no” over 100 times before making a single investment — because evaluating what to reject is far more efficient than overanalyzing every prospect.

Think Fast Talk Smart is a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business. The podcast is produced by Jenny Luna, Ryan Campos, Matt Abrahams, and Aech Ashe, with production help from Elizabeth Wyleczuk-Stern and Podium Podcast Co. This episode was recorded on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California.