David Cohen Quotes

I keep anywhere between 5-10 percent of my net worth in venture ideas.

I focus on consumer Internet. Sometimes it's a working prototype; sometimes it's an idea on a napkin. I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.

Startup investing is one of my things, but it is not my everything.

My philosophy is that if I have any money I invest it in new ventures and not have it sitting around.

One thing I'd like to do is angel investing in small companies. That's what's exciting, and if you are lucky to have a bit of money, you can take those risks.

I've had a very good stretch with startup investing, and I think it's very important to know when to hold your chips.

When I first started as an angel investor, I was excited to start investing in startups - but I didn't know much. I couldn't tell the good ones from the bad; I didn't understand all these venture capital terms, so I would invest somewhat blindly.

I won't say that 'shotgun' is the word I'd prefer to use, but we certainly do a lot of investments.

I don't do a ton of deals a year, and I really like working with startups - it's the only way I can invest. It fits my ADD brain.

We need to encourage investors to invest in high-technology startups.

I have plenty of investments that I wish I'd never made. But the model is to lose money on a lot of investments and then make 1,000X or 10,000X on an investment.

We like to say at Khosla Ventures, and this is one of the reasons to do what we do, we'll take technical risks that nobody else will.

I'd been a great angel investor, but professional venture capital was clearly not the right thing for me.

I have a million dollars in the stock market, because if I lose a million dollars, I don't personally care.

I don't want to be on anyone's board. I just want to have good investments.

There's a number of companies clearly that we wish we had invested in either at the early or at the moderate stage.

When I was very young, maybe 12 years, I began to make investments.

From the time I was a kid, I was always interested in any and all kinds of new business ideas.

There's nothing wrong with raising venture capital. Many lean startups are ambitious and are able to deploy large amounts of capital. What differentiates them is their disciplined approach to determining when to spend money: after the fundamental elements of the business model have been empirically validated.

Sometimes people think Y Combinator has big ideas about themes. But really, we just fund the best startups.

I have no complaints about losing money I put in high-risk investments. I did some of that when I had real money; my informed choice, my measured gamble.

Why not invest your assets in the companies you really like? As Mae West said, 'Too much of a good thing can be wonderful'.

I'm not sure at all that I'm any good at this mentoring/investing business - that's why I'm using my own money, and that's why it's not a career.

I think the mistake people make most often when they invest in other kinds of startups is they say, 'This is totally different.' And so the things that matter, like making a product that people desperately want, like talking to customers, they throw this out the window. That is a recipe for heartache and tears.

I'm not someone who puts their money in a fund that earns 2 to 5 percent a year. I'm a man who tries to change things, move something with my money, to create jobs and, of course, at the same time earn more money with it.