I read an interesting post on the Ycombinator forums today about Yossi Vardi, who is the biggest Angel Investor of internet start-up`s in Israel today. Considering Israel is thriving with young and reputable strart-up companies, the money man behind them is definitely an interesting person to take cues from. He states:

“When I hear a pitch by an entrepreneur I look for a few things in them. First, they have to be very talented. I’m not interested in good or great entrepreneurs. I want them excellent. They have to be nice people, since some investments don’t ripe in early stages. I always tell my wife that in case the investment fails in early stages, at least we gave a “scholarship” to a good guy and not to some idiot. Moreover, they have to be focused on the arena I like which is the internet. If they meet those criterias, there is a good chance I will invest in them. What exactly they are doing is less important. Business plans are a wonderful part of science-fiction. They are developed for people who love sausages and don’t know what are they made of. How can one conduct a ‘due diligence’ on something that is only in his mind.”

What I find interesting here is that:

a.) He looks at his money and his investments as scholarships. He is giving someone he truly believes in an opportunity and even if it does not work out he is happy because he gave that person a chance to learn a valuabe lesson. I love that!

b.) He doesn`t care about the business plan because the business plan is always going to change. Anyone who has been part of a startup before knows that what you originally plan out never sticks. All too often I speak to young entrepreneurs who havea great idea and get hung up on the idea of getting the business plan done. This is not to say that the business plan is useless. Outlining and organizing your thoughts is essential to keeping yourself sane and making sure there are no holes in your idea. However, investors and entrepreneurs alike must know that situations change and ideas evolve. The great entrepreneur can think on his toes and adapt given positive opportunity or even tricky situation.

The first step is to truly prove your greatness, get an unreal demo together or a killer team that you know will inspire anyone, don`t just sit there trying to cram all your thoughts into a set number of pages.

This is a guy who knows what it takes to run a company and build a great success. Business plans always change and sometimes the idea is a winner and sometimes its not. However, if  you put your eggs in the basket that is being held by the guys and girls who are truly passionate, smart and hungry for success you wlll always come out on top; even if the eggs break.

Thoughts?