However, there’s a fine line between optimism and acceptance. Investors must learn to be more skeptical about pitches than it feels natural to be. The best investors are basically always skeptical, but they know when to hang up for the right companies. Some investors easily believe the hockey stick, ignoring the management holes, and overestimating product acceptance.

Mistake #9: Thinking because competitors exist, opportunity doesn’t – It is the favorite myth in the ecosystem, thinking that because competitors exist, opportunity doesn’t. That logic is behind some of the biggest groans of regret ever, including the countless folks who said “no” to Google early on for that reason.

Mistake #10: Failure to keep dry powder for the inevitable - Despite all the competition, this is a clear number one error: It is somehow always unexpected. The best yielding exits come after a couple of re-ups at something right around the initial valuation which isn’t surprising.