Listened to this podcast with Andy Rachleff the other day.
While it’s two years old, the full episode is gold - featuring stories both from founding Benchmark and Wealthfront.
In the episode, he has one expression I particularly liked: “put the gun in the other person’s hand”. Meaning: if you are about to enter into a long-term relationships with someone else - you might as well try giving the other person all the power right away. Give them the gun and see if they pull the trigger.
An example of giving someone the gun is to ask them what the believe the valuation of their company should be like. If the other person tries to exploit you - walk away. If not, the test is passed and it might be someone you should work with.
Investing in startups is all about long-term. Without trust nothing will ever work. So it makes sense to put the gun to the other party’s hand immediately.