Let's add a bit of spice to your morning coffee.
We say no to amazing technologies and incredible founders every day and it takes its toll. Don't get me wrong, we are in a super privileged position and the power dynamics aren't always fair. Every investment we make has to have the potential to return the fund so even if the technologies are amazing, if we don't believe it could be big enough, we say no. As investors, our job is to stay engaged, stay present, advise well, and remember why we are on this side of the table. Our job exists because founders exist.
"It is the job of a good investor to get over their heartbreak, and fully and emotionally commit to the next founder who is still in the game."
https://lnkd.in/gNqhFgjk
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
As young VC (and old man...), Omri Amirav-Drory's post on how VCs become assholes is a powerful mirror and great gift!
In less than a year since accidentally becoming a VC, I've noticed every one of these 'asshole behaviors' in myself.
This gave me, and hopefully other VCs, a set of three clear actions:
1. Apologize to every amazing founder I’ve treated this way!
2. Pledge to do my best (and likely fail...) to avoid these pitfalls in the future!
3. Beg you to call me out! To help, here are my confessed sins (with examples):
> Being too slow: You expected to hear back from me last week.
> Saying no without useful feedback: I told you "sorry, it's too early for us".
> Not fully engaged: I haven't interrupted in 5 minutes, during a Zoom.
> Being arrogant: You catch yourself thinking, "What the f--- does he know?"
Unexpectedly, after 30 years on the entrepreneur side, I've discovered that I love many parts of the VC role, especially engaging with entrepreneurs and fellow VCs.
That's why these 3 actions seem crucial to me, and maybe to other VCs, in keeping me an honest partner in my newfound passion for investing, to build a better world!
Thanks to Omri Amirav-Drory for writing it, and helping me and the entire tech ecosystem engage more productively.
#VCLife#StartupNation#Entrepreneurship#Startups#Investing
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
One thing I know about Omri and NFX is that you get the straight dope from them with productive candor. In my 10 years in the early stage startup industry and three companies, NFX is one of the best to welcome you to their ecosystem and provide impactful guidance.
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
Enabling Tech Innovators to Solve the World's Biggest Challenges I Faculty Chair and former Vice President of Community & Impact @ Singularity University
This is a great and courageous article by Omri Amirav-Drory, General Partner at the venture capital firm NFX, on some of the challenges of being an investor. I also think its applicable to others who find themselves in positions of power (philanthropists, top executives, political leaders, etc.)
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
Climate Tech, Founder, Investor, Professor 🌎 I help growth-stage CEOs scale faster without burning out or going alone by learning from North America's largest climate CEO peer group
If you're a founder or VC investor, don't ignore this post because of its title. 😀 Written by a founder-turned-VC investor, it's pretty thoughtful. Here are some snippets to get you started... 👇
"I truly believe that investors are generally good and mean well. Most, if not all, go to investing because they want to create value for all involved and change the world. But even with the best of intentions, it’s easy to become an asshole if you’re not careful."
"Sometimes I see investors who have become jaded or overly negative and they often take this out on their founders. When a good investor says no, they should always try to give detailed feedback. A one-word “no” is useless to a Founder. Though it’s true that a quick no is definitely better than a prolonged maybe."
"Investors who are caught in that downward spiral may subconsciously look for information to back up their negative beliefs. It’s a form of confirmation bias that many don’t recognize."
"Some investors truly don’t know they’re being assholes. They live in a reality distortion field. When you become an investor, and raise a fund, the power dynamic shifts. All of a sudden, you have money to give out, you become the most popular person in a conference, everyone wants to talk to you, and people stop telling you the truth."
"When your calendar is double or triple booked with meetings, or your email is going off constantly, you become distracted. When you’re distracted, communication breaks down. You can get short, or not ask the right questions because your mind is somewhere else. Being on defense is a toxic situation that leads even the best investors to exhibit asshole behavior, like ghosting founders. It’s simple: distracted, overwhelmed people act like jerks."
"Investors drag their feet for lots of reasons..some of which are out of their control. They might be tracking down their partners and advisors to discuss the opportunity. They might be getting on a flight across the world. They might have just lost your email in the shuffle. But you don’t know any of that unless they tell you. Whatever reason it is, it’s not fair to you. Speed is the #1 advantage you can have as a founder. Your investor should move at least as fast as you."
Thanks for opening up this conversation on both sides, Omri Amirav-Drory.
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
As a founder turned VC, this article really resonated. Building a startup is hard and when you’re looking at hundreds of opportunities, it’s easy to become jaded.
I think it’s so important to remember that every founder is doing something really hard - putting something they created out into the world and in doing so they are opening themselves up to opportunity but also potentially to criticism.
As VCs, we owe it to founders to be kind, present, thoughtful, and supportive.
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
Sometimes investors unintentionally become jerks.
I really believe most investors are good people and mean well. But over time with an endless email pile, heartbreak, constantly saying no....they can get jaded.
We have to be aware of our own mindsets. Or it can be too easy to go down the wrong path.
One of the things I value the most about the NFX team is that we always give honest feedback to each other. We want to be the investors we wish we had when we were running our companies.
This might be spicy, but this is what investors owe founders (and when you can call them out): https://lnkd.in/dUPuwJvg
Spot on! NFX nailed it again.
"Each of us had experiences with amazing investors…and some real asshole investors. Our biggest fear is waking up one day and realizing that somehow, we became the thing we hated the most. You know the type: late for meetings, always looking at their phone instead of listening, ghosting founders, stressing founders out for no reason, giving unthoughtful, obvious advice."
And one more thing: fund's brand, reputation and return to their LPs means little to nothing whether one of the GPs (or all of the GPs) are assholes or not.
Don't ask references from their "star investments" but do the reference checks from the investments that didn't go well.
I enjoyed reading this article a lot, as it explains the mental traps investors often fall into and serves as a good reminder for any early-stage/venture investors. Investing in a company is a partnership with its founders, and that requires mutual respect and trust. Knowing how to be supportive and helpful while not overstepping but giving the necessary space for the founders to drive the business forward is an art, not a science - much like any meaningful relationship.
In a landscape where adaptability is key, investors are reshaping their approaches to navigate market shifts. Orrick’s latest Deal Flow 4.0 report, featured in an incisive Sifted article, offers a window into these evolving strategies through an analysis of over 350 European equity deals from the past year.
Discover how these changes are influencing board compositions and driving emerging trends within deal-making.
https://lnkd.in/e8CX6idd#VentureCapital#OrrickTech | Orrick Tech
Terminology Friday: This week's term is "capped participation".
This is a complicated one. "Capped participation" refers to having a participating liquidation preference, but that the benefit of the participation is subject to a cap.
It doesn't mean that investors "cap" their potential return.
To unpack this one, you need a blog post. Luckily we have a whole series about capped participating preferreds. Start here: https://lnkd.in/exKis9wt
