Comment by mbesto
2 years ago
Which actually reinforces the grandparent's point. Sequoia, Benchmark, Kleiner, etc. can say an actual "no" and you'll still go back to them because they're...Sequioa, Benchmark, etc. You'll go back to them, because its a huge signal to prospective buyers, potential acquirers, partners, etc. that you're being funded by a top tier VC.
> Good VCs are professionals and have no interest in wasting your time or theirs.
"Good" VCs has less to do about professionalism and more to do about pedigree. Professionalism and "good"/"bad" VCs are not mutually exclusive things.
The grandparent said "VC's never actually say no". I did the opposite of reinforce that. Every good VC will give you a version of the following if it's a "no":
1. It's a "no". (Clear, unambiguous.)
2. Here's why. (E.g. not believing in the space, issues with customer background or another part of due diligence.)
3. We make mistakes all the time and hope you prove us wrong. (I've pitched the partner at Sequoia who invested in FTX. His name's Alfred, super nice guy and fully aware that screwing up is part of his job. "No" isn't a value judgment.)
4. Happy to talk again for the next round. (If they're a multistage fund, e.g. you won't hear this from First Round.)
It's all very predictable. The one real "why" you won't typically hear back on is strength of the founding team. They won't tell you when they think you're the problem. But product, space, GTM, basically anything else they're happy to dissect.
This is true for all of the firms that people have heard of. Of course there's a long tail of bad VCs, too, generally podunk firms few people ever encounter anyway. Avoid TechOperators out of Atlanta, for example.