Yesterday I was on a startup panel with other VC and I heard so much bad advice, I feel compelled to call it out. Below are some of the things VC do and say that is just wrong.“Don’t take the first offer you get.” While true, this is a very misleading statement to make to a crowd of early stage founders. 19 out of 20 early stage founders will receive no offer at all. 4 out of 20 will figure out how to build a business in spite of not receiving any investor support. The other 15 out of 20 will toil away at a business that ultimately exhausts them and fails.“You need a warm intro to talk to me.” I hate when VC make this arrogant statement. You have better things to do with your time than scour LinkedIn and beg your network to make an intro to a VC they barely know. Rather than spending time networking, put together a very concise paragraph about your business and reach out to VC cold. If your paragraph is concise - explains the business, highlights 5 wonderful metrics, includes your ask and valuation, and where you can be reached - you will get a response. There aren’t enough good deals out there so if your paragraph is truly compelling, you won’t need a warm intro because VC will be all over you. By the way, my email address is
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