A little bit of introspection on being good at source / pick / win ...
1. Sourcing is both "becoming commoditized" ... but also isn't. It *is* easier than ever to build AI tools to help list out all the companies in the known universe. It is *significantly* harder to get founders to respond to cold emails, without some sort of brand name or reputation (or in the worst case, a desperate need for cash).
Nothing will beat having boots on the ground, spending quality time face-to-face with a founder, building rapport and telling your story. I've found a few start-ups that (a) I would've otherwise never found and (b) who otherwise wouldn't have responded to my emails.
Sourcing is a learned skill, an extremely process-oriented step, and a very human process. It's one that I've been slow to uptake, but getting better at.
2. Picking is the due diligence. AI will be able to help accelerate diligence, but I believe good investment taste will be hard to find. The apprenticeship part of the business, one I continue to cut my teeth on (writing memos by hand, assisted with AI searches).
3. Winning is the very human part of it that will forever be human. Who do you want to be invested in you long-term? Who brings value outside of capital? Who do you trust? Who do you like? It seems crazy that you would take money from person A than person B just because you like being around person A and find person B annoying ... but that is a very real part of the process.
This is the piece that spending 8+ years at Epic learning to build trust come in handy.
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