One of the worst pieces of advice I ever got was from an investor who told me, “Visit ten VCs. If none of them are interested in investing, then you should quit.”
I am so glad I ignored his advice because I would have never gotten funded if I just gave up after meeting ten investors.
You learn pretty quickly there are many reasons that an investor may pass on your company. And you also learn that many of them have nothing to do with you.
Worse yet, most of the time you rarely get good feedback as to why an investor is passing. You’re left to figure it out on your own.
Let’s say you have a great idea and you’ve got some traction in the marketplace. But the investors aren’t interested. There can many possibilities including:
A. Your company isn’t in a segment the investor is interested in.
Are you wondering why you can’t get meetings with investors. This could be the answer because not all investors are interested in the same things.
The point is to do your research before trying to set up meetings. Only try and meet with investors that are interested in what you are doing.
Oh, and also pay attention to…
B. Your company may not be at the stage the potential investor is interested in.
Investors specialize. There are angels, early stage VCs, and late stage VCs. Again, do your research because it’s really difficult to get a mid or late stage VC to invest in your early stage start up.
One more thing to look at regarding potential investors is…
C. Your company will not move the needle on the potential investors fund.
Let’s say you’re building a company that has the potential to be worth $100M. That sounds pretty good, but you need to look at things from the investors perspective.
The $100M your company might be worth will not impact the return for a $1B fund. You’re better off trying to find smaller funds where your success can make a huge dent in the success of…
