4 ms·

This part was really surprising to me - definitely one of those things you don't learn until you try it yourself: >I soon learned that lots of investors liked

This part was really surprising to me - definitely one of those things you don't learn until you try it yourself: >I soon learned that lots of investors liked to reschedule meetings at the last minute to meet with other seemingly “hotter” entrepreneurs. Having a full pipeline gave me leverage to say, “Well, we can move our meeting, but my schedule is so booked — I don’t know if our round will still be open by the rescheduled date.” This ultimately caused some investors to un-cancel our meetings.

patio11 14y ago
There's also some high-school-with-more-money-attached gamesmanship with that sort of thing. Generic business lesson, not specific to raising funding: you may be occasionally asked to reschedule a meeting on very short notice, sometimes to a time which could not possibly be convenient. This is occasional used as a test: if you say yes, you're communicating that you really want this deal to go through, which means your other options are likely poor. That can then get used against you in negotiations. If, on the other hand, you say "We can't reschedule", you may find that scheduling conflicts resolve themselves as if by magic. Having a full pipeline gave me leverage to say n.b. Truthfully conveying to investors/clients/etc that the market circumstances concerning one's availability can quickly change in a fashion against their interests and that as a consequence they should decide quickly does not require any particular state of one's pipeline.
- hippo33 14y ago
  That may be true, but there is the psychology of people wanting what other people have. By having a full pipeline, you are also conveying that you're "popular" with other investors.
  - patio11 14y ago
    Let me try again since apparently I was a little oblique: Consider the set of statements you could make to announce that you have a full pipeline. Subtract all statements which can only be made if you have a full pipeline. Deliver one of the remaining statements in a confident and optimistic tone of voice. There, you're now conveying that you're popular with other investors.
    - hippo33 14y ago
      Any suggestions? After a while, we could say that we had 2nd round mtgs with VCs and that we had so and so committed, but in the beginning, there wasn't too much else to say.
      - patio11 14y ago
        With regards to the etiquette of when you can drop people's names into the conversation, I would ask somebody over there in the Valley as my understanding is there are thorny social norms there and I'm only barely conversant on them. With regards to expressing urgency, maybe something like: "I appreciate that you've got a busy schedule. Boy, can I empathize, it seems like I have to slide the actual running of the company in between the fundraising. But, you know, the market's the market right now. I'll tell you the same thing I'd tell everyone else: we'd be happy to pencil you in for X but our situation is evolving and there may not be an open window for this by X." (I've never raised money, but when I sell consulting gigs, I typically throw in a true observation like "I have N weeks of availability. My experience is that I usually book up." Ask the 500 crew, but it seems to me like "We're a 500/YC/etc startup. Historically, the rounds sometimes close out quickly." is absolutely true, conveys urgency, leverages social proof, and doesn't say anything you wouldn't want retweeted.)
        hippo33 14y ago
        I think we are generally in agreement -- I just used the pipeline line to convey this urgency. I'm not a big fan of name-dropping in this case, because from what I see, lots of founders do this all the time, and it's not worth anything IMHO. I can pull out lots of cards: 500/Google/Stanford/MIT/Harvard, but one of the things that I'm trying to convey in this post is that even in the Valley with all of those cards -- and I talk with friends from all these networks all the time, there is still a lot of hustle that goes unreported. The streets aren't lined with gold just because you are a 500company (or YC/TechStars/AngelPad). For most companies, people are not just throwing money at you because of your networks or who you know/talk with. It is true that some rounds close quickly, but the majority don't. Also, most of this post refers to the beginning of the process. Once you start bringing investors in, it closes more quickly from that social proof, and that's how rounds accelerate faster in the end. But, that's in Part II. :)
- grey-area 14y ago
  Interesting that so much of negotation comes down to brinkmanship and confidence. n.b. Truthfully conveying to investors/clients/etc that the market circumstances concerning one's availability can quickly change in a fashion against their interests and that as a consequence they should decide quickly does not require any particular state of one's pipeline. Saying 'We might not be available next week' as you do above is not as convincing as saying 'We have 10 meetings this week with potential investors, and we have a closing date of next Tuesday when we'll decide who to go with' or something similar, if that is a truth which they can then confirm with other contacts. I imagine the more truthful and specific you can be about having interest the more convincing it is going to be as a reason for them to be interested.
  - BerislavLopac 14y ago
    Interesting that so much of negotation comes down to brinkmanship and confidence. This is pretty much true for every social interaction.
- samstave 14y ago
  When I go to raise money, I really want you there as my negotiator. :)

patio11 14y ago

There's also some high-school-with-more-money-attached gamesmanship with that sort of thing. Generic business lesson, not specific to raising funding: you may be occasionally asked to reschedule a meeting on very short notice, sometimes to a time which could not possibly be convenient. This is occasional used as a test: if you say yes, you're communicating that you really want this deal to go through, which means your other options are likely poor. That can then get used against you in negotiations. If, on the other hand, you say "We can't reschedule", you may find that scheduling conflicts resolve themselves as if by magic. Having a full pipeline gave me leverage to say n.b. Truthfully conveying to investors/clients/etc that the market circumstances concerning one's availability can quickly change in a fashion against their interests and that as a consequence they should decide quickly does not require any particular state of one's pipeline.

hippo33 14y ago
That may be true, but there is the psychology of people wanting what other people have. By having a full pipeline, you are also conveying that you're "popular" with other investors.
- patio11 14y ago
  Let me try again since apparently I was a little oblique: Consider the set of statements you could make to announce that you have a full pipeline. Subtract all statements which can only be made if you have a full pipeline. Deliver one of the remaining statements in a confident and optimistic tone of voice. There, you're now conveying that you're popular with other investors.
  - hippo33 14y ago
    Any suggestions? After a while, we could say that we had 2nd round mtgs with VCs and that we had so and so committed, but in the beginning, there wasn't too much else to say.
    - patio11 14y ago
      With regards to the etiquette of when you can drop people's names into the conversation, I would ask somebody over there in the Valley as my understanding is there are thorny social norms there and I'm only barely conversant on them. With regards to expressing urgency, maybe something like: "I appreciate that you've got a busy schedule. Boy, can I empathize, it seems like I have to slide the actual running of the company in between the fundraising. But, you know, the market's the market right now. I'll tell you the same thing I'd tell everyone else: we'd be happy to pencil you in for X but our situation is evolving and there may not be an open window for this by X." (I've never raised money, but when I sell consulting gigs, I typically throw in a true observation like "I have N weeks of availability. My experience is that I usually book up." Ask the 500 crew, but it seems to me like "We're a 500/YC/etc startup. Historically, the rounds sometimes close out quickly." is absolutely true, conveys urgency, leverages social proof, and doesn't say anything you wouldn't want retweeted.)
      - hippo33 14y ago
        I think we are generally in agreement -- I just used the pipeline line to convey this urgency. I'm not a big fan of name-dropping in this case, because from what I see, lots of founders do this all the time, and it's not worth anything IMHO. I can pull out lots of cards: 500/Google/Stanford/MIT/Harvard, but one of the things that I'm trying to convey in this post is that even in the Valley with all of those cards -- and I talk with friends from all these networks all the time, there is still a lot of hustle that goes unreported. The streets aren't lined with gold just because you are a 500company (or YC/TechStars/AngelPad). For most companies, people are not just throwing money at you because of your networks or who you know/talk with. It is true that some rounds close quickly, but the majority don't. Also, most of this post refers to the beginning of the process. Once you start bringing investors in, it closes more quickly from that social proof, and that's how rounds accelerate faster in the end. But, that's in Part II. :)
grey-area 14y ago
Interesting that so much of negotation comes down to brinkmanship and confidence. n.b. Truthfully conveying to investors/clients/etc that the market circumstances concerning one's availability can quickly change in a fashion against their interests and that as a consequence they should decide quickly does not require any particular state of one's pipeline. Saying 'We might not be available next week' as you do above is not as convincing as saying 'We have 10 meetings this week with potential investors, and we have a closing date of next Tuesday when we'll decide who to go with' or something similar, if that is a truth which they can then confirm with other contacts. I imagine the more truthful and specific you can be about having interest the more convincing it is going to be as a reason for them to be interested.
- BerislavLopac 14y ago
  Interesting that so much of negotation comes down to brinkmanship and confidence. This is pretty much true for every social interaction.
samstave 14y ago
When I go to raise money, I really want you there as my negotiator. :)