It’s no secret that Avvo has raised $13 million in venture funding from Benchmark Capital and Ignition Partners. In the process, we’ve talked to lots of other folks in the venture world; you might say we’re familiar with the ideosyncracies of those who inhabit that world. Lots of smart people, lots of ego, and a relentless drive to always look forward. So I was delighted to read about Bessemer Venture Partners’ “Anti-Portfolio” those investment opportunities BVP passed on. From their take on Google:

“[BVP Partner David] Cowan’s college friend rented her garage to Sergey and Larry for their first year. In 1999 and 2000 she tried to introduce Cowan to “these two really smart Stanford students writing a search engine”. Students? A new search engine? In the most important moment ever for Bessemer’s anti-portfolio, Cowan asked her, “How can I get out of this house without going anywhere near your garage?” “

BVP has had a lots of hits and can afford the candor, but it is refreshing all the same to see these guys look back and laugh at what might have been.

Josh

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm by Josh King, VP of Business Development and General Counsel and is filed under Josh King Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.