A note to my Chinese readers

A note to my Chinese readers:

The Business of Venture Capital was recently published in China. For the chinese reader aspiring to become a VC, here is a little note, inspired by my favorite singer Leonard Cohen: 

Dear Reader: 

When i started to write this book, it was a very cold winter in Michigan. In that howling wind, ice and snow, my brain was mostly frozen. I used to buy green Peruvian coffee beans from a local farmer, who was trying to make a living in that winter. 

My writing ritual started each morning at around 330am. The iron skillet was slow to warm up. It took almost an hour to roast and grind the beans. Instead of writing, most of my mornings were about putzing around the kitchen for a nice cup of coffee. I am prone to addictions. 

What you hold in your hand is not a book, but an attempt to thaw my addictive brain.

Please do not take this book too seriously - Venture Capitalists often do. Being a VC is not a career choice you should pursue. But as singer Bob Dylan says, let the chaos choose you. For many of us, the art of investing remains a somewhat mythic combination of luck, timing and skill. We really dont know how it works but we justify everything in hindsight.

Many have tried their hand at VC, a few have succeeded. While the book has some frameworks for thinking, it has no secret formulas, so please forgive me if you are disappointed.  If you succeed in your career as a VC, thank your stars. Thank the entrepreneurs, upon whose energy this business thrives. We are not the overlords we think we are, but merely servants of such forces.

Mahendra Ramsinghani

San Francisco, December 2016

尊敬的读者：

当我开始写这本书，这是一个非常寒冷的冬天在密歇根州。在嚎叫的风，冰和雪，我的大脑大多是冻结。我曾经从一个当地农民那里购买绿色的秘鲁咖啡豆，他正试图在那个冬天生活。

我的写作仪式每天早上在大约330am开始。铁锅热起来很慢。花了近一个小时来烤和磨豆。而不是写作，我的大部分早晨是关于在厨房周围喝一杯好咖啡。我很容易上瘾。

你手里握着的不是一本书，而是试图解冻我上瘾的大脑。

请不要认真对待这本书 - 风险资本家经常这样做。作为一个VC不是一个职业选择，你应该追求。但是作为歌手鲍勃迪伦说，让混乱选择你。对我们许多人来说，投资的艺术仍然是一个有点神话的运气，时间和技能的组合。我们真的不知道它是如何工作的，但我们在事后证明一切。

许多人在VC上试过，几个成功了。虽然这本书有一些思维的框架，它没有秘密的公式，所以如果你失望，请原谅我。如果你在你的职业生涯中成功地作为一个VC，谢谢你的明星。感谢企业家，这个业务蓬勃发展的能源。我们不是我们认为我们是的霸主，而只是这种力量的仆人。

Mahendra Ramsinghani

旧金山，2016年12月