Bijan Sabet

About Tweet Work Archive

Who took a chance on you?

Many folks get to experience some of their goals because someone, somewhere along the way, gave them a shot. They took a real chance based on something they felt or saw (vs historical evidence per se).

Early in my life, Lauren took a chance on me. When we started dating, I could barely pay my monthly rent in my studio apartment in the Haight. Actually even earlier, I was living in Boston, while she was in SF. I moved a few months later. And here we are 18 years later.

In my work life, the Santo and Todd took a chance on me by asking me to join Spark as it was starting. I didn’t have a track record as an investor. I had never sat on boards. There wasn’t any data to suggest I would be a good investor.

Later that year the founders at thePlatform took a chance on me and Spark. It was our very first investment and it worked out. We made +3x our money in 6months. Not a massive exit by any means but it was my start.

Less than a year after that I met David Karp when he was running his own consulting company, Davidville. David created Tumblr and took a chance on me allowing me to invest as the company started when I didn’t have a consumer internet track record as an investor. Six months later or so Biz, Ev and Jack allowed me to invest in their company, Twitter.

All of those were special moments in my life. I’m grateful for each one and for every single founder that gives me and my partners the same opportunity.

I really enjoyed this interview with Mike Maples and his sincere gratitude towards entrepreneurs. I’ve met Mike a few times. The last time I saw him was over a nice dinner a few months ago. He’s extremely authentic and the real deal. I hope we get to do more things together.

I think we all have the opportunity to give people a shot at various times in our lives. It’s a special moment on both the giving and receiving end.

Who took a chance on you?

8 Mar 2013 / 128 notes

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