It’s fun to bag on VCs (we deserve it). But some VCs ask silly questions. If you are a founding team, you’ve heard all of these at some point I’m sure. Hopefully at Promus Ventures we aren’t on this list:
- “We are just slammed” (wow you must be good because we’ve got nothing going on here)
- “It will take us approx. six weeks to make a decision” (great, I’ll send you the TechCrunch article on our round then)
- “We’ll get back to you with our number” (ok, did we say you could be in the round?)
- “We are evaluating a bunch of startups in this space” (interesting bc we are evaluating a bunch of vcs)
- “I really think you should consider changing your focus” (then why exactly did you contact us?)
- “We will need to talk to your top 5 customers” (you’ll get a couple and like it)
- “Can we get a complete set of projected financials for the next five years?” (sure no problem if we had 5-yr projections)
- “We’d like to make some changes to the docs that have already been signed by the other lead investors” (thanks for correcting some of the missed punctuation)
- “Would be great to get whatever industry research you have” (let’s find a vc that we don’t have to educate)
- “We like to be involved” (super — what exactly do you mean by involved?)
- “We’re going to unfortunately have to pass — just don’t have the bandwidth to properly focus on the opportunity” (thx — appreciate the detailed feedback)
- “We’ll have to pass but would love for you to keep us updated us on your progress” (ok we’ll be certain to add that to our list of things to do)
Recipients of this post are not to construe it as investment, legal, or tax advice, and it is not intended to provide the basis for any evaluation of an investment in any fund. Prospective investors should consult with their own legal, investment, tax, accounting, and other advisors to determine the potential benefits, burdens, and risks associated with making an investment in any fund.
