Dumb Silicon Valley Ideas, Part XIV

David Card | July 09, 2006, 08:33 PM

The fact that the Journal headline includes "get down" in it is a bad sign. According to this dubious piece, normally sensible venture capitalists -- is that an oxymoron? -- are trying to be "hip" to attract young founders of start-ups. Guys, these won't do much for your youth cred:

For the first time, the 40-year-old downloaded songs from Apple's iTunes online-music store and put some games on his cellphone. He started writing an irreverent blog, called "Who has time for this?" with observations on everything from computer security to his dead cat. He urged readers to give their own felines "a little extra tuna" in memory of his departed pet, Snoopy. Finally, the suburban father of three ventured out to a few high-tech networking parties, including one packed with Stanford University students and beer kegs.

...Other investors are trying to get to know more young techies through bowling. Tim Chang, a partner with Gabriel Venture Partners, emailed some of his investor pals last month suggesting they participate in a new Internet-startup bowling league. "The trick is, you want to get to know the entrepreneurs socially as well as professionally," says Mr. Chang, who admits he doesn't know much about bowling.

And anyway, isn't there a reason why well-funded start-ups often bring in grown-ups for management?