The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified Investor Stories 448: Hard Lessons in Investing: Mistiming Trends, Relying on Partnership Debate, and Avoiding Good Money After Bad (Hilaly, Dash, Rizik)
Dec 22, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Aaref Hilaly, a venture investor at Bain Capital Ventures, shares his critical lesson on the dangers of mistiming trends, particularly in cloud adoption. Somesh Dash, general partner at IVP, highlights the importance of collaborative decision-making and encourages investors to 'sleep on it' to ensure readiness before committing. Together, they explore the pitfalls of emotional investments and the necessity of trusting your gut when an opportunity feels confusing. Tune in for valuable insights from seasoned investors!
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Trends Unfold Slower Than They Appear
- Trends take far longer to fully unfold than people in tech bubbles assume.
- Aaref Hilaly reminds investors not to dismiss ideas as dead just because adoption is slow.
Pause Before Committing To Deals
- Sleep on big investment decisions to let initial noise settle and clarify conviction.
- Somesh Dash says partners should pause before committing to ensure they can be long-term productive supporters.
Partnership Conviction Beats Solo Passion
- Investing is a team sport and partnership conviction matters more than individual enthusiasm.
- Somesh Dash emphasizes that firm-wide buy-in yields better portfolio selection and support for founders.