Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Scientist, missionary, partner, athlete, owner
The five traits
Ribbit uses the checklist to decide which founders to back and partner with for the long term. The team looks for all five when it meets a founder and spends time with them.
The napkin test
The list took almost 10 years to develop, and it fit on a napkin about five years ago. Fitting it there is the test: a thought small enough for a napkin means the team has thought about it long enough to own it.
Authenticity over time
The same test applies to character. A founder who is authentic keeps the mission written on day one present years later, and those are the founders the firm keeps working with. Founders who fake it until they make it, then change and move on, lose the firm's appetite for their time.
Where does Eye of the Tiger come from?
Eye of the Tiger was written by Survivor for the 1982 film Rocky III. Sylvester Stallone had reportedly wanted Queen's Another One Bites the Dust for the film but could not get the rights. The song spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. It won the 1983 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.
Where does the missionary idea come from?
Venture capitalist John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins is often credited with popularizing the line that missionaries build great companies while mercenaries build mediocre ones. The distinction separates people driven by a cause from those driven by payoff. Kleiner Perkins invested in both Amazon and Google in their early years.
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