A VC brings luck to a struggling franchise

San Francisco 49ers great Ronnie Lott was celebrated during last night's Monday Night Football telecast. As we wrote in 1999, Lott is part of a group of former jocks who now run a venture capital firm that invests the money of fellow former jocks in other VC funds. Lott's partners include Harris Barton and Joe Montana.

Last night, after his jersey was retired by the team during the half-time show, Lott spent a few minutes in the booth chatting with ABC's Al Michaels and John Madden. In that time, his former team scored two touchdowns in 14 seconds of play. One presumes his investors hope his presence is as beneficent when it comes to a term sheet.

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman