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Vinod is a very, very hardball negotiator. Having taken money from him myself, I advise that nobody else ever do so.

rdl 13y ago
Story time? I've heard that he's "incredibly cheap" (i.e. valuation sensitive), but haven't heard anything particularly negative other than that. If you're going to make a non-specific accusation, why not be more specific?
- CurtMonash 13y ago
  As noted in my add-on post above, that's part of it.
almosnow 13y ago
yeah dude, story time
sandGorgon 13y ago
why - was it the terms or (as I have more commonly heard), him "helping" the founders to manage the company?
- CurtMonash 13y ago
  As noted in my add-on post above, that's part of it.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
gesman 13y ago
Never put yourself in position asking for money from hardballs. Build yourself in a position for others to come to you for money (exclusing IRS :) )
CurtMonash 13y ago
It looks like some explanation is in order. :) 1. I founded a company called Evernet in the 1980s, funded by Kleiner Perkins and others. Vinod negotiated against at least one founder, me, hard. Then KP made sad but traditional VC errors along the lines of changing the company's strategy from a good idea to a bad one, bringing in the wrong operating management and all that. 2. So I tracked news and anecdotes. Vinod prided himself on being a tough negotiator on behalf of his portfolio companies. But various other stories of negotiating hard against entrepreneurs were out there. I should clarify that in the 1980s, even more than recently, there was a general screw-the-founder philosophy among VCs. I once asked a popular and likeable VC what some rules of thumb were for equity splits. After some back and forth, the VC said "You don't get it, Curt -- it's whatever we can get away with." But Vinod seemed like a particularly tough exemplar of the trend. 3. I advise 20-30+ tech companies at a time. Most are VC-backed startups. Khosla is the 2nd-worst target of negative VC anecdotes I hear, details of which must however remain confidential.
- almosnow 13y ago
  Nice, thanks! Just for gossip, what's the worst one?
  - CurtMonash 13y ago
    I haven't figured out a reasonable way to make it non-confidential yet. :(

rdl 13y ago

Story time? I've heard that he's "incredibly cheap" (i.e. valuation sensitive), but haven't heard anything particularly negative other than that. If you're going to make a non-specific accusation, why not be more specific?

CurtMonash 13y ago
As noted in my add-on post above, that's part of it.

almosnow 13y ago

yeah dude, story time

sandGorgon 13y ago

why - was it the terms or (as I have more commonly heard), him "helping" the founders to manage the company?

CurtMonash 13y ago
As noted in my add-on post above, that's part of it.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

gesman 13y ago

Never put yourself in position asking for money from hardballs. Build yourself in a position for others to come to you for money (exclusing IRS :) )

CurtMonash 13y ago

It looks like some explanation is in order. :) 1. I founded a company called Evernet in the 1980s, funded by Kleiner Perkins and others. Vinod negotiated against at least one founder, me, hard. Then KP made sad but traditional VC errors along the lines of changing the company's strategy from a good idea to a bad one, bringing in the wrong operating management and all that. 2. So I tracked news and anecdotes. Vinod prided himself on being a tough negotiator on behalf of his portfolio companies. But various other stories of negotiating hard against entrepreneurs were out there. I should clarify that in the 1980s, even more than recently, there was a general screw-the-founder philosophy among VCs. I once asked a popular and likeable VC what some rules of thumb were for equity splits. After some back and forth, the VC said "You don't get it, Curt -- it's whatever we can get away with." But Vinod seemed like a particularly tough exemplar of the trend. 3. I advise 20-30+ tech companies at a time. Most are VC-backed startups. Khosla is the 2nd-worst target of negative VC anecdotes I hear, details of which must however remain confidential.

almosnow 13y ago
Nice, thanks! Just for gossip, what's the worst one?
- CurtMonash 13y ago
  I haven't figured out a reasonable way to make it non-confidential yet. :(