Increase accountability, yet decentralize decision-making to generate innovation.
Surprise and delight your customers to build long term trust.
Focus on the inputs. The outputs will take care of themselves.
Don’t get fixated on short term numbers.
Measure your company by your free cash flow in the long-run.
In lean times build a cash moat.
Long-term thinking is rooted in ownership.
John Glynn co-founded Lamoreaux, Glynn & Associates in 1974 and established his own firm, Glynn Capital Management, in 1983.
After graduating from law school, moving to San Francisco, and working at a law firm for several years, John became convinced that his interests – and the more exciting opportunity – lay in the rapid growth of the technology industry in the Bay Area. He made the decision to undertake a career change and attend business school at Stanford University. In 1970, he went to work in venture capital for Reid Dennis at the American Express Company, making his first major investment in Intel. From the beginning, John looked for founders whose companies would create markets, mixing art into the science of investing.
John Glynn evangelized listening as the best way to evaluate management teams and build a mutually beneficial relationship. In a 2023 interview, he said, “Listening is the best way to build a bond of trust, and that's what makes it work. That's what gives you a chance to get to know the management better. They trust you, they respect you, and they think you can do something for them in the way of your advice.”
Beyond good listening, John described what he looked for in CEOs, words that were equally applicable to his own approach in building Glynn Capital: “Making money is a byproduct of executing well on a consistent basis. I would say one of the things you look for on the front end is: Would you like to work for this person? Can they delegate? How do they treat their people? How important are people to them? You know, is this a one-man show? Or is this somebody that realizes they have limitations and need to build a team to back them up and execute on the key issues?”
In his mentorship of company founders and the venture community, John offered 12 guidelines for entrepreneurs, which included focusing on inputs rather than outputs, building a “cash moat” in lean times, and understanding that failure and invention are inseparable twins.
