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Yeah that one really irked me. Hey, call us when you are a billionaire and we'll talk about investing. Yeah I'll marry you when it's in the prenup. I'd immedia

Yeah that one really irked me. Hey, call us when you are a billionaire and we'll talk about investing. Yeah I'll marry you when it's in the prenup. I'd immediately pull out my funds as an investor out if I found out the names of the people writing these rejection letters. It would also be bad for street cred. "hey these guys missed out on the deal of the century, who else did they reject?" 150k is like peanuts to these firms with millions of dollars to throw. Hell, I'd bought out of the money put options near expiry if it meant there was a slight chance it would have potentially unlimited returns.

BadassFractal 11y ago
Sure, except there are thousands of companies out there asking for that firm's 150k, each year. They can't spray and pray, they have to at least find a reason to believe their decision is based on sound logic, otherwise they might as well make themselves self-service.
- curiousjorge 11y ago
  If there's an airbnb in there then I think it's worth betting more. 15 million spread across 100 startups, is that too much? I expect most to fail but the point is I have limited downside risk for unlimited return. the overdiversification argument is moot here because you are not optimizing for total portfolio return but maximizing your exposure to upside. Who says you have to do it all in one go? Keep moving and make bite sized bets but not being married to your ideas. Also how can you be sure that your sound logic isn't going to hurt you in the end like those guys writing rejection letters? I'm sure they have done,some introspection. And like that guy who said he's going to see nd me a business plan in an hour, I've yet to hear from. One clear distinction is that I am also investing in the person, and if they can't hold up their end or if they think it's an easy way to swindle a years salary they are fucked in the head. I'm here to make bets not run a fucking charity, excuse ma francais.
bigtunacan 11y ago
I think you are reading too much into it. Different investment funds, angels, syndicates have vastly differing strategies, goals, and funds available. A smaller fund might invest across a series of funds, but not have deep enough pockets to follow the money even if they have pro rata rights. In comes the larger investment firm with lower risk tolerance (potentially) for the series A. Win win win.
- curiousjorge 11y ago
  No you are right about that. I was a bit overdramatic but I'm skeptical when a vc can say oh we don't do travels or hey just not really our specialty be cause there's no way that all 7 of them would have the exact same policy. Some hedge funds,or pension fund has one clear strategy they are legally bound to but all 7 vc in this case displayed the same response or none at all. Clearly there was someone that did end up investing in them and to be fair if they didn't respond it doesn't mean anything. They could've been just very busy or slow at typing emails, just follow up until they reply with a yes or no.
ams6110 11y ago
Were you buying AAPL in 2001?
frostmatthew 11y ago
> hey these guys missed out on the deal of the century When you figure out how to determine that before the fact I'm sure there are plenty of VC firms who would love to hire you. > who else did they reject? They rejected countless startups that have since failed (and surely some other that have succeeded). VCs are human, you can't expect them to have the clairvoyance required to only invest in eventually successful companies and only turn down eventual failures.
- curiousjorge 11y ago
  >When you figure out how to determine that before the fact I'm sure there are plenty of VC firms who would love to hire you. My email is in my profile (if anyone wants to hire me). I've described a strategy that involves making small bets across large number of startups and not focusing on making judgements or even attempting to figure out how much this startup is going to be worth (as you say VC are human, why introduce that inherent bias to a numbers game?) because like we witnessed with the guys who rejected Airbnb, their own bias towards safety incurred a huge opportunity cost. > They rejected countless startups that have since failed (and surely some other that have succeeded). VCs are human, you can't expect them to have the clairvoyance required to only invest in eventually successful companies and only turn down eventual failures. Exactly, which is why I feel like they should ignore their own instincts and thought processes. Even if they were able to land a few successful ones, how can we be certain that it was not the work of dice rolling? Studies show that most money managers perform no better than buying the index or throwing darts, what makes you think VC's suddenly have improved odds?
  - umanwizard 11y ago
    Wait -- so you'll invest in a startup blind, regardless of fundamentals, without trying to ballpark its valuation? Give me an hour to come up with a business plan, and I'll shoot you an e-mail :P
    - curiousjorge 11y ago
      If that's what you got then no, I think you should check with your local donation institutions because I'm not running a charity. Another red flag actually, because I checked my email and I didn't find a business plan in my inbox and 2 hours has passed. If you were serious I would've read it and rejected you because the first thing I would do is not read the business plan but talk about your experience and see if you have a history of being non punctual or any thing that would suggest dishonesty.

BadassFractal 11y ago

Sure, except there are thousands of companies out there asking for that firm's 150k, each year. They can't spray and pray, they have to at least find a reason to believe their decision is based on sound logic, otherwise they might as well make themselves self-service.

curiousjorge 11y ago
If there's an airbnb in there then I think it's worth betting more. 15 million spread across 100 startups, is that too much? I expect most to fail but the point is I have limited downside risk for unlimited return. the overdiversification argument is moot here because you are not optimizing for total portfolio return but maximizing your exposure to upside. Who says you have to do it all in one go? Keep moving and make bite sized bets but not being married to your ideas. Also how can you be sure that your sound logic isn't going to hurt you in the end like those guys writing rejection letters? I'm sure they have done,some introspection. And like that guy who said he's going to see nd me a business plan in an hour, I've yet to hear from. One clear distinction is that I am also investing in the person, and if they can't hold up their end or if they think it's an easy way to swindle a years salary they are fucked in the head. I'm here to make bets not run a fucking charity, excuse ma francais.

bigtunacan 11y ago

I think you are reading too much into it. Different investment funds, angels, syndicates have vastly differing strategies, goals, and funds available. A smaller fund might invest across a series of funds, but not have deep enough pockets to follow the money even if they have pro rata rights. In comes the larger investment firm with lower risk tolerance (potentially) for the series A. Win win win.

curiousjorge 11y ago
No you are right about that. I was a bit overdramatic but I'm skeptical when a vc can say oh we don't do travels or hey just not really our specialty be cause there's no way that all 7 of them would have the exact same policy. Some hedge funds,or pension fund has one clear strategy they are legally bound to but all 7 vc in this case displayed the same response or none at all. Clearly there was someone that did end up investing in them and to be fair if they didn't respond it doesn't mean anything. They could've been just very busy or slow at typing emails, just follow up until they reply with a yes or no.

ams6110 11y ago

Were you buying AAPL in 2001?

frostmatthew 11y ago

> hey these guys missed out on the deal of the century When you figure out how to determine that before the fact I'm sure there are plenty of VC firms who would love to hire you. > who else did they reject? They rejected countless startups that have since failed (and surely some other that have succeeded). VCs are human, you can't expect them to have the clairvoyance required to only invest in eventually successful companies and only turn down eventual failures.

curiousjorge 11y ago
>When you figure out how to determine that before the fact I'm sure there are plenty of VC firms who would love to hire you. My email is in my profile (if anyone wants to hire me). I've described a strategy that involves making small bets across large number of startups and not focusing on making judgements or even attempting to figure out how much this startup is going to be worth (as you say VC are human, why introduce that inherent bias to a numbers game?) because like we witnessed with the guys who rejected Airbnb, their own bias towards safety incurred a huge opportunity cost. > They rejected countless startups that have since failed (and surely some other that have succeeded). VCs are human, you can't expect them to have the clairvoyance required to only invest in eventually successful companies and only turn down eventual failures. Exactly, which is why I feel like they should ignore their own instincts and thought processes. Even if they were able to land a few successful ones, how can we be certain that it was not the work of dice rolling? Studies show that most money managers perform no better than buying the index or throwing darts, what makes you think VC's suddenly have improved odds?
- umanwizard 11y ago
  Wait -- so you'll invest in a startup blind, regardless of fundamentals, without trying to ballpark its valuation? Give me an hour to come up with a business plan, and I'll shoot you an e-mail :P
  - curiousjorge 11y ago
    If that's what you got then no, I think you should check with your local donation institutions because I'm not running a charity. Another red flag actually, because I checked my email and I didn't find a business plan in my inbox and 2 hours has passed. If you were serious I would've read it and rejected you because the first thing I would do is not read the business plan but talk about your experience and see if you have a history of being non punctual or any thing that would suggest dishonesty.