Just a quick thought. Because I’ve recently had more than the normal share of young entrepreneurs pestering me for introductions to various angel investors and VCs.
If I don’t know you, I’m not going to be making any introductions. Even if I DO know you, if I don’t like your idea or implementation, I’m not going to make any introductions either. And even if I think your idea’s OK (but not great), I’m probably not going to send the mails on your behalf.
See, you may not be ready yet. And, of course, it’s my reputation being put on the line (maybe even more than yours) when I make the call on your behalf. And that goes for all of the other favors that you try to cash in. Make the best of it (and only make intros when they’re warranted), or else you can start to expect a whole lot of silence when you make your next request (or introduction).
Just because you have someone who can make the intro to someone else, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Your product may not be there yet. You may not have pitched enough minor-leaguers first (and gotten feedback, iterated on your idea, and honed your delivery). Or, you just may be indicating that you don’t want to do all of the hard work to get your legs under you. You may think that all you need is (a little bit of money, an introduction, someone to buy you, etc. etc.).
No, what you need to do is to sit down, shut up, and build something that large numbers of people are clamoring for (and for which you know specifically what you want from investors). THEN it might be time to call in some of those favors.
As for now, Shut Up and Row.
Does this mean you're not introducing me to Fred Wilson?
for you, Evan, anything/anyone!
when IS a good time to talk to investors?
I feel getting a web startup off the ground shouldn't require money… or not a lot. You should have a viral strategy that will prove your idea's worth. Is there a number of hits/eyeballs that gets investor's attention?
Let Tyson notice you first and THEN ask for the beating…
I have flashbacks of a Fresh Prince song from middle school 😛
One of the things that is really striking me as odd is this new tendency of entrepreneurs who creative something with the sole purpose of getting bought. It doesn't make any sense to me, the process of creation itself bonds the creator to its creation almost in an emotional level.
I know this because I am going through this stage at this very moment, and the idea of someone simply throwing cash around and buying out something that has been in my mind and dreams for so long does sound good at all.
Plus, Venture Capital isn't always a good thing, people just see it has money, but in reality you are selling out on part of your business before you even know what it will become.
Funny — we were just playing "Parents Just Don't Understand" this weekend
— is that the one? Or, something even more fitting?
I agree with you, Pedro. It's written about pretty eloquently by Wil
Shipley (I discovered via Greg
Bowers),
as he discusses the difference between Miner and Farmer mentalities, here:
http://blog.wilshipley.com/2011/04/success-and-farming-vs-mining.html
Dave just finished reading Wil's article, and absolutely loved it.
It reminded me of something that happened to me yesterday while looking for a personal finance application to help me put my bills in order.
I came across a website called Buxfer that at a first glance was exactly what I needed, had all of the functionalities I needed, lovely interfaces at a good price. Before subscribing to the service I decided to do a little background check and was mesmerized at what I found.
So this company was founded by two entrepreneurs back in 2009, and the product was so successful that in 2 years it was already handling more than 2 billion transactions. To my surprise I was reading more and more about complaints regarding the lack or absence of response from the support team.
Apparently it’s as if the team behind the project suddenly vanished, stopped providing upgrades and seemed to simply be keeping the site alive. The reason was simply, they were hired by Facebook and simply stopped caring about their own venture.
What really worries me about this is not so much Facebook fetching talent from smaller companies, but the entrepreneurs themselves giving up so easily. It’s almost as if entrepreneur’s start projects with a clear objective to get rid of them quickly and move up. I guess it’s not too different from the mining perspective, where the idea is there to serve a personal purpose, and everything else is just a vehicle to get there.
Came across this post again.  Really a solid point.  Although you might get excited if you have the opportunity to throw your idea at an all star, it doesn't mean you should pitch.  I unexpectedly made this mistake a few weeks ago  (pitched google ventures a really fluid idea).  Doh!