Chuck Newhall (NEA) - How he founded one of the most successful venture capital firms in history

Our guest today is Chuck Newhall, who is one of the founders of New Enterprise Associates or also known as NEA. NEA is one the largest and most renowned venture capital firms in the world. The companies he financed have over $400 billion in revenues today. He’s also a Vietnam War veteran and earned many combat decorations including the purple heart and is an American hero.  Chuck released his latest book “Dare Disturb the Universe, a memoir on venture capital” which is an amazing story about the history of investing in innovation and that gets to the core about what it is and it’s role in the economy. Some of the questions we discuss: 1. What is the purpose of venture capital and what are its origins?2. When does it make sense to bring in a seasoned CEO vs. a CEO entrepreneur?Recruiting Sidgemore forLoss money for a period of time3. What attracted you to venture capital? 4. Why did you want to be a financier rather than an entrepreneur? 5. What makes a great venture capitalist? What qualities do you need? 6. How did the partnership come together? How did NEA raise your first fund, what was the size of your first fund? 7. What are your rules of fundraising? 8. What is your approach to portfolio management? 9. You had the line that NEA and Kleiner Perkins could not be more different firms. What did you mean by that?10. How do you think about focus when you are multi-stage? What makes a great VC firm and what tends to be their downfall? How do you think about innovation vs. sustainability? Most of the tech companies for example that go public aren’t profitable. Uber and Lyft for example that have been How do you think about founder uniqueness? You mention in the book how venture capital is different to other forms of financing. What regulations or legal systems would you change? What has been the biggest changes / shifts in venture capital since you started?