Comments on: Retro: My Favorite Blog Post on Raising VC

By: How to Present at Big Meetings without Going Down a Rat Hole | CloudAve

How to Present at Big Meetings without Going Down a Rat Hole | CloudAve — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:40:00 +0000

[...] are difficult to handle because they set a negative tone for the room. I talked about a situation where this happened to me when I was raising money in Silicon Valley for my second [...]

By: How to Present at Big Meetings with Going Down a Rat Hole

How to Present at Big Meetings with Going Down a Rat Hole — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:55:34 +0000

[...] are difficult to handle because they set a negative tone for the room. I talked about a situation where this happened to me when I was raising money in Silicon Valley for my second [...]

By: retro-furniture-guy

retro-furniture-guy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:58:37 +0000

Great blog, but who is the VC??

By: msuster

msuster — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:20:29 +0000

I was cringing while I was living it! I like to tell people to focus on the triple play rule. I talked about it here: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/09/12/d...

By: Paul Jin

Paul Jin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:04:52 +0000

So, what's your advice on how to handle that situation? In your experience, how would VCs respond if you had said something like, “actually, since we're short on time, would you mind if I verbally describe the slide deck?”

You description of how things unfolded was great. I was cringing as I read it.

By: msuster

msuster — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:12:04 +0000

Yeah, in retrospect I wish I would have. It's in my character to do so. The main issue in my mind was that I had traveled more than an hour for the meeting and already paid $25 for parking so I felt compelled to finish.

Calling BS politely would have ruffled feathers. But in the end I think I ruffled them much more when their pictures ended up on Valleywag.

Thanks for the feedback.

By: Gabriel Gunderson

Gabriel Gunderson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:49:25 +0000

Mark,

I'm kinda wondering, what would have happened if you just ended it? Would that have given you a bad reputation in those circles? Or, what if you politely called them on their rude behavior?

I'm not suggesting that you should have, just wondering what the fallout would have been. After all, you knew you didn't want to work with them by that time.

Very much enjoyed reading. Thanks!

By: pabooth

pabooth — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:58:27 +0000

Indeed, fun and interesting times!

I'm finally doing my own thing with some ex-colleagues; compliance, healthchecks, auditing, security testing, stuff like that. Still early days but year 1 has been very promising.

By: msuster

msuster — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:48:01 +0000

Totally agree. If you're 100% sure you're not going to fund a company then there's no point in being rude about it. My advice to VCs is always, “if you decide to pass then you might as well be extra polite. At least that way people don't say bad things about you on The Funded!”

By: msuster

msuster — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:46:48 +0000

It shouldn't be this way, but it is so entrepreneurs need to prepare for it. If you can take capital from somebody who treats you with respect you should. When I'm late I try to add time at the end of the meeting.

And yes, VCs get a free education.