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"Founding Member" versus Founder

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Angel investor Ram Shriram is invariably referred to in the media as "Founding member of Google's Board". A search for "Founding Member Google" throws up even more strange ones like "A founding member of Google's UI team", "founding member of Google's product team", etc.

While I have great respect for Ram Shriram (he was among the few investors who stuck to the consumer internet thesis when everyone was trying to distance themselves from "dotbombs") - I dislike this "founding member" business.

Either you are a founder of a start-up or not. Please don't dilute the word with these attempts at proxies.

Arun Natarajan is the Founder of Venture Intelligence India, which tracks venture capital activity in India and Indian-founded companies worldwide. View sample issues of Venture Intelligence India newsletters and reports.

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