VC pitfalls to watch for: trying to fix companies

Edited excerpt from Five Mistakes New VCs Make (& How I Tried to Avoid Them) by Hunter Walk:

VC mistake — imagining you can “fix” a team, product or market: With no exceptions, my worst bets were in companies where I either relied upon social proof or where there was a gap between founder vision and ability to execute that I thought investors/advisors could bridge.

Notes:
(1) The same point holds from the entrepreneur’s perspective: you don’t want investors who think their role is to enlighten you or fix your company.
(2) If they can’t fix a team, product or market, how do great VCs add value? They (i) provide concrete help with hiring, fundraising, and intros; (ii) encourage you to figure things out without pressuring you to expand prematurely; (iii) share what’s working from their other startups; (iv) ask great questions that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought about; and (v) focus on real metrics rather than buzz among other VCs and the media.