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I can't begin to express how true this article is. I was once a naive, yet optimistic 24 year old who spilled his guts to a reasonably prominent EIR at what wa

by NSX2 19y ago

I can't begin to express how true this article is. I was once a naive, yet optimistic 24 year old who spilled his guts to a reasonably prominent EIR at what was then a top-flight VC firm in the area. I started suspecting something was wrong when I would get invited to their super-fancy digs (receptionist had 3 20-inch IBM flatscreen back when a 20-inch flatscreen actually almost cost $20k, the board room had 30 Aeron chairs, etc.), yet curiously enough never while anybody else was there, and would always be grilled for my 2 years of research findings, but after they "sucked out all my ideas" I couldn't seem to get any call-backs. Tried another startup a year later and got sued by the EIR who claimed at first that our ideas were very similar ... then so similar that in fact he thought I "stole" what he saw as "his" idea. I couldn't believe the nerve, and yet there they were, grown men twice my age who made million screwing me over without a second thought about all the crap they pay lip service to on their websites (ie, "Our reputations mean everything to us" and "Our honesty is the basis of our credibility") and all sorts of other mumbo jumo. IN CONCLUSION: By all means keep at it, but be very, very careful - if they screw up they're still VC partners or EIRs, but you're done for at least that idea.

daniel-cussen 19y ago
Have you talked names on The Funded?
- NSX2 19y ago
  This was way, way before the Funded came out. And while it would be nice to add my two cents in, (a) the VCs themselves never actually did anything unethical, they just used the EIR as a proxy, so they can always shrug it off like, "It wasn't OUR fault - we had a "rogue" EIR who did things his own way ... and (b) I've had enough years of ruminating and one day decided to put the past behind me lest I become a bitter old man in my late 20s/Early 30s. This article just struck a nerve and I wanted to add my 2 cents ... That's why I get miffed whenever I hear talk of "ideas are nothing, it's all in the execution" because I couldn't help but think that those two EIRs weren't executing jack-sh@# before I told them the idea and HOW to execute better than anybody else could, what to do when you had duplicators, etc. Never mind me, I'm just a rampbling, bitter old man in a young man's body ...
- NSX2 19y ago
  So UNBELIEVABLY FUNNY ... not even 24 hours after you posted this, the firm in question is cited in a recently posted article on this forum http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/11/thefunded-penalizes-venture-capital-firms-that-game-it/ http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/11/thefunded-penalizes-ventur... Where they nabbed vcs for trying to create multiple accounts and artificially up their own ratings on the system to make themselves seem to have a good rep ... Who is mentioned prominently? Check article. So unbelievable. I was shocked that their rating was so high ... almost too high ... and I though perhaps the guy had a serious spiritual soul-searching session after 9.11 or something and decided to play it square. Instead he will now be forever branded, through nobody's fault but his own, as "the guy who tried to manipulate his own Funded rep in that Venture Beat article. Unbelievable. Karma worked, in this case at least - in this lifetime! Unreal. I feel ... sniff sniff ... sob ... vindicated ... It's been a long journey. I'd like to thank my manager, my hairstylist, my dance coach ... there's just to many people to keep track of so don't be offended if I miss you ...

by NSX2 19y ago

daniel-cussen 19y ago

Have you talked names on The Funded?

NSX2 19y ago
This was way, way before the Funded came out. And while it would be nice to add my two cents in, (a) the VCs themselves never actually did anything unethical, they just used the EIR as a proxy, so they can always shrug it off like, "It wasn't OUR fault - we had a "rogue" EIR who did things his own way ... and (b) I've had enough years of ruminating and one day decided to put the past behind me lest I become a bitter old man in my late 20s/Early 30s. This article just struck a nerve and I wanted to add my 2 cents ... That's why I get miffed whenever I hear talk of "ideas are nothing, it's all in the execution" because I couldn't help but think that those two EIRs weren't executing jack-sh@# before I told them the idea and HOW to execute better than anybody else could, what to do when you had duplicators, etc. Never mind me, I'm just a rampbling, bitter old man in a young man's body ...
NSX2 19y ago
So UNBELIEVABLY FUNNY ... not even 24 hours after you posted this, the firm in question is cited in a recently posted article on this forum http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/11/thefunded-penalizes-venture-capital-firms-that-game-it/ http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/11/thefunded-penalizes-ventur... Where they nabbed vcs for trying to create multiple accounts and artificially up their own ratings on the system to make themselves seem to have a good rep ... Who is mentioned prominently? Check article. So unbelievable. I was shocked that their rating was so high ... almost too high ... and I though perhaps the guy had a serious spiritual soul-searching session after 9.11 or something and decided to play it square. Instead he will now be forever branded, through nobody's fault but his own, as "the guy who tried to manipulate his own Funded rep in that Venture Beat article. Unbelievable. Karma worked, in this case at least - in this lifetime! Unreal. I feel ... sniff sniff ... sob ... vindicated ... It's been a long journey. I'd like to thank my manager, my hairstylist, my dance coach ... there's just to many people to keep track of so don't be offended if I miss you ...