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It's certainly reasonable to say that VCs shouldn't be great at building web sites. But I want my investors to give a damn. One of my favorited tweets (by Ale
by webwright 14y ago
It's certainly reasonable to say that VCs shouldn't be great at building web sites. But I want my investors to give a damn. One of my favorited tweets (by Alexis Ohanian):
"Give a damn. Give so many damns. As a startup/small shop, it's the only competitive advantage you have against incumbents."
I think their website can be a reflection of how much they give a damn. Maybe they are an incumbent and they don't have to. But if I have the choice to raise money from someone who still gives a damn, I will.
- hkmurakami 14y agoWouldn't you want your investors to give a damn about their portfolio companies, rather than give a damn about their own facade of a website?
- mnicole 14y agoI will never understand this mentality. A website is a storefront, it creates trust. Do you want your portfolio company working out of a basement, a shack?
- sopooneo 14y agoI agree with you. But from another angle, these companies are already world famous. In a way, a poor design on their web sites may become an indicator of trustworthiness in their small niche. Like sometimes very high quality products come in drab packaging, because (a) they don't have to show off, and (b) it distinguishes them from the reasonably good and they don't have to worry about being mistaken for the really bad.
- stefanobernardi 14y agoThis is actually a very interesting point. But it's not industry wide in this case, meaning that some of the top firms have pretty awesome sites, so that's what got me curious.
- mnicole 14y agoI'm on the outside, I don't know any of these firms. If this is how important they think experience is, I don't want to work with them.
- webwright 14y agoFalse choice. VCs have a functionally unlimited budget-- they can give a damn about both with a negligible cost. And their web site isn't a "facade"-- it's how they communicate with their future portfolio companies, press, people looking for jobs at startups, new partner/associate prospects, LPs, etc.
- conorh 14y agoI will say, having worked on two VC sites now (see comments on http://kpcb.com http://kpcb.com below - KP is an exception to this). Most VCs can be incredibly cheap when it comes to these types of expenses, for whatever reason they are not willing to pay what it takes to get it done well.
- gawker 14y agoThey probably don't see it as a way of communication - hence, the lack of investment in it.