Michael Pollan is a genius wordsmith (and a fellow parenthetical commentator).  Rarely is the koala reduced to a “thimble-brained monophage.”  Nearing the end of his culinary exploration, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, I ran across the following, an apt description of the venture investor’s competing modalities:

Whenever they encounter a new food they find themselves torn between two conflicting emotions unknown to the specialist eater, each with its own biological rationale: neophobia, a sensible fear of ingesting anything new, and neophilia, a risky but necessary openness to new tastes.

At times the investor operates like a rat, taking a quick, small bite to detect the unknown morsel’s compatibility before deciding whether to make a meal of it.  More often, there’s a communal decision process that relies on precedent and critical foresight, prelude to a promising market feast.  Who says VC’s are vultures?  C’mon, we’re omnivores!  And neophilia is our bread and butter.

Photo credit: Tough Choices, originally uploaded by shotbart

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