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I run a $30M early stage venture fund. Here's what I wish first-time founders knew: • Don't bother cold emailing me, you'll end up straight in the trash. Don't

I run a $30M early stage venture fund. Here's what I wish first-time founders knew: • Don't bother cold emailing me, you'll end up straight in the trash. Don't even think about reaching out on LinkedIn, I open it once a month to mark everything as spam. Instead, find someone we know in common and ask for a warm intro. I receive way too much inbound, and a referral from someone I trust is one of the best ways to skip the line. • Have a good deck, and make sure I see it before I talk to you. For the majority of new startups, a deck is the best way to share your story, and I will make my decision of whether to spend time talking to you in person while reviewing a deck. • Understand what I'm looking for: (1) solving a real problem that matches my investment thesis (look it up on our website), (2) a team that's worked together before and is uniquely qualified to solve this problem, (3) a market that has the potential to build a billion-dollar monopoly, and (4) a real business model and a realistic path from zero to a billion.

CPLX 8y ago
This almost reads like a parody of the entitled God-complex VC mentality. I wonder how long it will be before people feel some shame advocating for overtly classist and exclusionary network-only policies in public at least.
- vincentmarle 8y ago
  You can try to shame them but I rather have them being open and honest about it.
- pjc50 8y ago
  If you're giving out millions of dollars, you'll drown in spammy suggestions. Filtering it through a personal network is an old, effective way to limit it to those people more likely to be genuine. Which is a shame for the reasons you say - it limits it to the old boys' network.
- kenneth 8y ago
  Getting into YC is a great way to jump-start your network. Ultimately, having a strong network is key to building a successful venture business. Expecting otherwise is unrealistic. VCs aren't charities. Seed investing is a business with very high quantity and low quality at the top of the funnel. Any investor who tells you they aren't giving more weight to a lead that comes recommended vs. one that doesn't is lying to you. It could be as simple as 5min to review the initial pitch vs. 1min.
rsweeney21 8y ago
Some counterpoints from my experience fundraising. - I had a ton of success cold-emailing VCs. I was able to cold email my way into Accel, a16z, NEA, etc. - I raised $16M through 3 rounds and was heavily oversubscribed in each round *without ever creating a deck*. My pitch was a conversation that included a compelling story I got really good at telling. - No counterpoint on your third bullet. This is spot on. :-)
- kenneth 8y ago
  Agreed there are exceptions to the first two rules — the two best performing investments in my portfolio respectively are exceptions to #1 and #2. That said, these are the exception, not the rule. • Out of ~70+ companies I've invested in, exactly one reached out cold (and I had already met the founder once before socially). I do take a look at each of the companies that reach out cold, but I'm bombarded with these email, so I give them about a tenth of the attention I can afford to give to someone who comes with a recommendation already. • The best companies can raise without a deck if they have a strong personal connection or really good traction to get past the screening stage. In my mind, the deck is the most effective way to succinctly pitch a company before I meet the founder. We don't actually use it in the initial conversation.
qaq 8y ago
Turning things around a bit why would people care enough to spend time to get a meeting with you? 30M is a tiny fund the advice you give is pretty much what all VCs say but you are wording it in a very master of universe type of language. I would be slightly surprised if Doug Leone phrased it like this but to see such wording from a small fund partner to me is already a big red flag.
- kenneth 8y ago
  Ha, I like the way you think! The truth is, most VCs are fairly undifferentiated. We provide value in a number of ways, but then again, it's hard to say why we're better than any other decent seed fund. Another why many of our investments come through referrals. People who know how we operate as a fund and as value-add investors recommend us to companies just as much as they recommend companies to us. Thinking of it in the other direction: our LPs invested into us based on our access and ability to get into good deals that match our fund thesis. We are able to find companies that match that thesis, and able to get founders to accept an investment. Rarely do these deals end up being the same ones that cold email us. If you're a hedge fund with a specific strategy, you go out and specifically pick stocks, it isn't the stocks coming to you to pitch you. VC investing isn't that different. We are strategically positioned such that we hear about companies as they're fundraising and find a way to invest in the ones we like that match our thesis.

CPLX 8y ago

This almost reads like a parody of the entitled God-complex VC mentality. I wonder how long it will be before people feel some shame advocating for overtly classist and exclusionary network-only policies in public at least.

vincentmarle 8y ago
You can try to shame them but I rather have them being open and honest about it.
pjc50 8y ago
If you're giving out millions of dollars, you'll drown in spammy suggestions. Filtering it through a personal network is an old, effective way to limit it to those people more likely to be genuine. Which is a shame for the reasons you say - it limits it to the old boys' network.
kenneth 8y ago
Getting into YC is a great way to jump-start your network. Ultimately, having a strong network is key to building a successful venture business. Expecting otherwise is unrealistic. VCs aren't charities. Seed investing is a business with very high quantity and low quality at the top of the funnel. Any investor who tells you they aren't giving more weight to a lead that comes recommended vs. one that doesn't is lying to you. It could be as simple as 5min to review the initial pitch vs. 1min.

rsweeney21 8y ago

Some counterpoints from my experience fundraising. - I had a ton of success cold-emailing VCs. I was able to cold email my way into Accel, a16z, NEA, etc. - I raised $16M through 3 rounds and was heavily oversubscribed in each round *without ever creating a deck*. My pitch was a conversation that included a compelling story I got really good at telling. - No counterpoint on your third bullet. This is spot on. :-)

kenneth 8y ago
Agreed there are exceptions to the first two rules — the two best performing investments in my portfolio respectively are exceptions to #1 and #2. That said, these are the exception, not the rule. • Out of ~70+ companies I've invested in, exactly one reached out cold (and I had already met the founder once before socially). I do take a look at each of the companies that reach out cold, but I'm bombarded with these email, so I give them about a tenth of the attention I can afford to give to someone who comes with a recommendation already. • The best companies can raise without a deck if they have a strong personal connection or really good traction to get past the screening stage. In my mind, the deck is the most effective way to succinctly pitch a company before I meet the founder. We don't actually use it in the initial conversation.

qaq 8y ago

Turning things around a bit why would people care enough to spend time to get a meeting with you? 30M is a tiny fund the advice you give is pretty much what all VCs say but you are wording it in a very master of universe type of language. I would be slightly surprised if Doug Leone phrased it like this but to see such wording from a small fund partner to me is already a big red flag.

kenneth 8y ago
Ha, I like the way you think! The truth is, most VCs are fairly undifferentiated. We provide value in a number of ways, but then again, it's hard to say why we're better than any other decent seed fund. Another why many of our investments come through referrals. People who know how we operate as a fund and as value-add investors recommend us to companies just as much as they recommend companies to us. Thinking of it in the other direction: our LPs invested into us based on our access and ability to get into good deals that match our fund thesis. We are able to find companies that match that thesis, and able to get founders to accept an investment. Rarely do these deals end up being the same ones that cold email us. If you're a hedge fund with a specific strategy, you go out and specifically pick stocks, it isn't the stocks coming to you to pitch you. VC investing isn't that different. We are strategically positioned such that we hear about companies as they're fundraising and find a way to invest in the ones we like that match our thesis.