It’s grand final weekend in Australia. The annual crescendoes (crescendi?) of the AFL and NRL seasons don’t always fall on the same weekend, but they do this year, making it a bonanza for those of us who enjoy the festival of the boot, and an equally difficult time if you are not interested in sportsball.
Athletic Ventures co-founder Matt De Boer knows a bit about grand finals — he played in two of them. I asked the freshly minted AFL commissioner if anything in business compares to playing on the biggest stage in your chosen field.
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"I’m early in my business career but I’m yet to experience anything similar," he said. "Achieving milestones as a team though in both pursuits is exhilarating and rewarding."
I also asked De Boer whether there are any lessons from his grand final experiences that apply to his current field of investing in startup businesses. "Composure under pressure. Stick to the process / game plan that got you there. Stick together, regardless of result and continue to iterate forward."