5 ms·

How I met our first investors

52 points by axiom 16y ago

amackera 16y ago
Reminded me of pg's "How Not to Die" http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
zbruhnke 16y ago
great story. I have found the same to be true all too often, never giving up says a lot for those who make it. I will never forget after dropping out of college to chase my dreams how mad my parents were at me. When I met my first investor and told him I had dropped out to pursue this even though I had a full ride scholarship and less than a year to finish he was amazed. It was something that had never struck me as odd before. And I will never forget after the long board meeting I had with the VC firm who eventually bought my company. The guy who had originally found me walked out of the meeting shook my hand and said the words I will never forget, at first they stung, but after a while it meant the world to me. "Zach, you know what we like so much about you?" what's that?, I asked "You have too much of an ego to fail, we're in." Sometimes having the right amount of belief in your project means that you do not even realize how dedicated you are, you make irrational decisions that seem like the only choice at the time and you sacrifice things that however insignificant they seem to you, would be a huge deal for some people.
jonathanjaeger 16y ago
The car crash threw me for a loop, very entertaining read. Not sure if this is exactly relevant, but here's a good TED Talk ("Keep Going Until We Stop"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cakm2nIQWo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cakm2nIQWo
adaugelli 16y ago
More broadly, it just shows how important time is to any startup. You never know when some chance meeting will lead to a key hire, a biz dev deal, or even a new investment. The longer you keep going and working at it - the more chances you have for this moment to happen.
JCThoughtscream 16y ago
Irrelevant to the topic, perhaps, but... tophatmonocle.com? I am envious of your address, sir.
- 51Cards 16y ago
  I actually read To Phat Monocle the first time I glanced at it :)
mkramlich 16y ago
luck = preparation + opportunity and you'll have more opportunities the longer you stay in the game, and the more you expose yourself to other people. I've heard it described elsewhere as "maximizing your people surface area" in order to maximize the chance/frequency of opportunities that will available to you. do that, plus be prepared to act on them, and you're golden.

52 points by axiom 16y ago

Reminded me of pg's "How Not to Die" http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html

great story. I have found the same to be true all too often, never giving up says a lot for those who make it. I will never forget after dropping out of college to chase my dreams how mad my parents were at me. When I met my first investor and told him I had dropped out to pursue this even though I had a full ride scholarship and less than a year to finish he was amazed. It was something that had never struck me as odd before. And I will never forget after the long board meeting I had with the VC firm who eventually bought my company. The guy who had originally found me walked out of the meeting shook my hand and said the words I will never forget, at first they stung, but after a while it meant the world to me. "Zach, you know what we like so much about you?" what's that?, I asked "You have too much of an ego to fail, we're in." Sometimes having the right amount of belief in your project means that you do not even realize how dedicated you are, you make irrational decisions that seem like the only choice at the time and you sacrifice things that however insignificant they seem to you, would be a huge deal for some people.

jonathanjaeger 16y ago

The car crash threw me for a loop, very entertaining read. Not sure if this is exactly relevant, but here's a good TED Talk ("Keep Going Until We Stop"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cakm2nIQWo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cakm2nIQWo

adaugelli 16y ago

More broadly, it just shows how important time is to any startup. You never know when some chance meeting will lead to a key hire, a biz dev deal, or even a new investment. The longer you keep going and working at it - the more chances you have for this moment to happen.

JCThoughtscream 16y ago

Irrelevant to the topic, perhaps, but... tophatmonocle.com? I am envious of your address, sir.

51Cards 16y ago
I actually read To Phat Monocle the first time I glanced at it :)

mkramlich 16y ago

luck = preparation + opportunity and you'll have more opportunities the longer you stay in the game, and the more you expose yourself to other people. I've heard it described elsewhere as "maximizing your people surface area" in order to maximize the chance/frequency of opportunities that will available to you. do that, plus be prepared to act on them, and you're golden.