Laws of Attraction: Can a Conservative Investor Love Venture Capital too?

2 min readAug 27, 2020

A Conservative Value Investor Takes a Risk

Can a conservative investor love venture capital, too? In a word, absolutely . Case in point: I’m a conservative value investor. A “belt-and-suspenders” type. I like value stocks and dividends. I manage asset allocation carefully and don’t look for windfalls. For me, good enough is indeed good enough.

So why have I invested in venture capital? Sound inconsistent? I don’t think so.

Let’s Back up a Bit: A Background on this Conservative Investor

I’m 70, semi-retired and an accredited investor based on our net worth. So we’re comfortable, but we’re not rich enough to get hit by the Federal Estate Tax. That is, unless we get very lucky, or Congress reduces the exemption level.

I’m also the analytic and strategic type. Asset allocation is important to me. Despite my conservative nature, I try to invest some money in more aggressive growth vehicles.

Our Asset Allocation Needed Alternative Investment Help

Still Clinging to My Conservative Value Orientation

Now for some cautions. Venture capital is not liquid. Don’t invest money into a VC fund that you may need in the next five to seven years. In fact, don’t invest money in venture capital that you can’t afford to lose.

Implementing a Value Strategy in Venture Capital

For a conservative investor, I trust Batterson’s approach to venture capital. It represents a value approach to this aggressive asset class that fits my nature.

His team does A LOT of homework and invests only in deals with exceptional potential. They won’t all be winners, but his team’s long-term batting average-37% of his deals have made money-is double the industry average.

That’s how I maintain my value orientation, as a staunch investment conservative even in the often wild world of venture capital investing.

[Editor’s Note: To learn more about this and related topics, you may want to attend the following webinars: All About Asset Allocation and Due Diligence Before Investing . This is an updated version of an article originally published on September 14, 2017.]

Strategic adviser to high tech venture capital firm, VCapital, following career as CEO-level consumer products/marketing services executive. Co-author of “Building Wealth Through Venture Capital: A Practical Guide for Investors and the Entrepreneurs They Fund” published in 2017 by Wiley Publishing.

View all articles by Kenneth “

Originally published at https://www.financialpoise.com on August 27, 2020.