He arrested a hacker, then spent 18 months clearing his own name. Now he’s a cybersecurity VC.

Every time venture capitalists write a check, they’re secretly running numbers in their heads about different exit scenarios. It’s their job as fiduciaries. But nearly all will tell you (publicly, anyway) that every portfolio company is headed for an IPO.

Stephen Ward, the co-founder of Brightmind Partners, a two-year-old cybersecurity fund in New York, says otherwise outright. “You have to sell on the way up,” he says.