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Wish I could say this openly but the secret truth in the Valley is connected startups know to avoid seed/A round money from Khosla, if you can. They are very ag
by coleslawfail 13y ago
Wish I could say this openly but the secret truth in the Valley is connected startups know to avoid seed/A round money from Khosla, if you can. They are very aggressive on terms and it's all about Vinod. They do plain shady stuff, like share your details and plans with their portfolio companies. At a seed stage they regular push for 50% of the equity and call it an "experiment". Then rather stick behind you, they pull the plug.
Don't believe me? Take a look at their portfolio and ask why with all of their resources so few YC companies are there. Xobni and ...? The other bigger companies all took growth equity not early money. In all my time in the Valley the gap between Vinod's public persona and the underlying truth is the biggest con I've run into. And of course he just keeps up the PR cause that's his best source of naive founders. Few others send him deals to lead. The good ones they keep to themselves and shut him out, until he gets in a growth terms (e.g. Square).
- unono 13y agoThe flip side is does he help you succeed? You just made a case for why you should be in his portfolio - he'll go to the lengths of shady stuff to help you out. He openly admits he's tough, but that's out of wanting all of his investments to succeed.
- coleslawfail 13y agoYou? No. He helps himself, first and foremost. And it goes far beyond an ROI. He makes sure he's uniquely in a position to win. That's not founder friendly. Again, the proof is in the portfolio. He wins, few founders have with him. The lack of YC there is telling...
- rdl 13y agoThe good thing I've heard about Khosla Ventures is that they're fast to make decisions (a trait shared by a16z, Sequoia, and most of the other "best" firms, especially newer ones). Stringing people along for a long time is one of the worst things to do when raising funding -- this says nothing about the experience after taking funding, though.
- coleslawfail 13y agoNot true in my understanding. They do deals when they have to, no sooner. And more often than not, they are a pain to deal with.
- acgourley 13y agoI got a polite and timely 'no' from them in the past. I felt they were honest with me and enjoyed meeting with them. Just one data point.
- onedev 13y agoLook that's great and all, but if you make like 7 comments in a row spouting the same thing over and over and over again about Khosla, I'm inclined to think there are some personal issues between you two and you're looking to spread FUD.
- coleslawfail 13y ago38 points - so far - from those 7 comments. I'm simply saying what many, many people already know to be true. But again, judge his portfolio for yourself. For a guy who says he's founder friendly where's the first generation of successful founders. He's been at it long enough...