Thanks to all of you who support my musings, ramblings and bad grammar here on the blog.  It’s been a great year for myself and Foundry Group and I’m excited to see what 2010 bring us.

We’ve been fortunate to invest in a lot of great companies, meet and reconnect with many wonderful entrepreneurs and I’ve learned a ton along the way.  We have some exciting stories happening within our portfolio investments and hopefully 2010 will be a year that we can share some of what is going on.

I’m proud that your support has helped me get my blog noticed in several national press outlets including the WSJ, the NYTimes Online and PEHub.  Also, it’s nice to see some recognition (humbly, of course) from sites like Grow Think and being picked as a top blog by the ABA on the subject of the business of law.

So long friends.  Be well, safe and happy during the holiday season and I hope that everyone has a wonderful 2010.

And as a teaser: I already know what my first blog post of 2010 will be and it will be a doozy.  Stay tuned…

Today has been a busy day meeting companies.  2-3 a day is about average for me, but today I’ll hit double digits.

Several of the teams today exhibited red flag issues that most likely shot their chance for Foundry Group funding them.  And they were simple things that they should have gotten correct. 

1. Not having a clue who I am.  No, this isn’t an ego thing.  (Okay, maybe a little), but how do you show up and pitch me when you know NOTHING about me?  You should be tailoring your pitch to what you think you know about me.  For instance, you don’t need to tell me that the music industry is changing or that the future of BigLaw might be different than it is today.  We can certain debate what the specifics are (and I welcome the conversations), but not having a clue that you are deeply involved in some of my domains is off putting.  Besides, I’m really easy to find on the web and figure out mostly what I’m about;

2. Not doing a Google search for your competitors.  I met with a company today that claimed they had no competitors.  It was the classic 4 square chart where they were in the upper right quadrant and there were no other companies.  The problem is that there are two that I know of who have raised over $60m between them and this company had never heard of them.  When I asked them if they had done any research, the answer was “no”’; and

3. Not listening.  Entrepreneurs need conviction in order to be successful.  I get that.  But when you are pitching me, it might be a good idea to listen to my advice and not step all over me.  If you do, it makes me worry about what future board meetings might be like.  I always tell entrepreneurs that “I have no idea if I’m right, but here are my opinions.”  And if you don’t like my opinions, then I’m not a good funding partner for you.  No offense taken, either.  There were several folks today who “knew everything” and I found it quite difficult to imagine investing in them.

Ironically, my bet is that none of the companies who committed these infractions will see this blog, so this isn’t for them.  But if you are pitching a VC, don’t make it ever harder by screwing up the easy stuff. 

Ryan and I had the great pleasure of dining at O Ya in Boston the other evening.  It’s fabulous. 

Billed as a “sushi restaurant” it’s so creative that defining it as such is disparaging.  It has all the creativity of Nobu (one of my all time favorites), but takes chances with simplicities such as a homemade potato chip on top of white rice with truffles on top, to daring fried Kumamoto oysters with yuzu aioli and squid-ink bubbles to over-the-top seared foie gras nigiri with balsamic chocolate kabayaki, raisin cocoa pulp and a sip of aged sake.

Every course of our dinner was something that we had never tasted before.  All perfectly balanced, served at proper temperature and carefully crafted.

The downsides?  The restaurant is hard to find (took our cab driver, how wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, 30 minutes), and is really small, so it’s hard to get in.  Also the coursing could have been faster.  While Ryan is a nice guy to share a dinner with, we didn’t need the 2.5 hour dinner pace, but these are nits on an otherwise stellar outing.

If in Boston, you must try.  Since I’m now going to Boston on a regular basis, send me other great ideas, if you have them.  Pictures of some of the food are below. 

The Kumamoto Oysters

The Potato Chip

The Foie Gras.  Yum!

SRS released their annual video holiday greeting.  If you are trying to figure out what the Queen of England, George Washington and Kanye West all have in common, you have to check it out.  Nice job guys!

I’m a big beer fan.  That being said, my palette has become more attuned to wine than my favorite barley friends. 

I’ve decided to try to evolve my taste buds and in concert start blogging on some of my best finds.  I also want an excuse to drink more beer.

I’m going to first focus on Belgian (and Belgian-styled) beers, as they’ve always spoken to me in a special way.  In fact, my partner Ryan McIntyre and I went on a beer tasting trip to Belgium last year. 

I’m also going to rate them on a 10 point scale. 

First up: Signature Ale – De Proef Brewery – collaboration with Tomme Arthur 2008

De Proef makes great beers.  I don’t know Tomme Arthur, but this Signature Ale is a collaboration between the two brewers and it is a great result.  The 2009 version is a collaboration with Bell’s Brewing.  (I haven’t had this one yet).

My take?

A citrusy nose with a sour patch candy front end.  This is a complicated and funky Belgian beer and might not be appropriate for classic American light beer drinkers, but it smacks of craftsmanship and thought.  There is a lot of richness and activity on the palette when on your tongue.  There will definitely be another sample in my near future, as I was fairly awed by the variety of flavors.

Mendelson Rating: 8.5/10

Happy drinking. 

Wow.  On September 26th, 60,746 people took the LSAT (the law school entrance exam).  This is the largest single administration in the history of the exam.

Are people not aware what is going on in the legal industry?  These folks are going to be saddled with six-figure debt and then attempt to enter an industry that is shrinking faster than any that I can think of.

Folks, seriously, go get your CS degree.  Or go work at a big-box retailer.  Or be a ski bum.  You at least won’t have the debt.

For a full report, check out Most Strongly Supportive’s post.