General Partner of VSC Ventures | Investing in startups in dirty, dusty, and dangerous industries | Host of 'CLIMB by VSC'
Just had a founder make this exact mistake this morning. We had 30 minutes scheduled for a call. I gave my typical 2-3 minute overview on VSC Ventures and how we work with our companies post-investment, then turned it over to the founder... The founder then spent the remainder of the time talking about ALL the things they did to get to where they are now... leaving almost no time to talk about where they are going NEXT and WHY it matters that they succeed. I left without an understanding of what exactly I was supposed to evaluate for an investment. The best founders understand that in a pitch VCs like myself or my guest on CLIMB Ann Bordetsky at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) are listening for your vision of the future and how you're going to make it a reality. Your goal in a 30-minute meeting is to get a VC excited enough about this vision of the future to want to schedule a follow-up. To want to dig into the data room. To come to visit you and discern what it is that makes you, your team, and your approach truly best-in-class. Focus less on where you've been. Focus more on where you are going.
10-10-10, past present future