Andrew D Ive

Venture capital partners can be valuable. There are key benefits beyond the capital they bring. 1) They are not thinking about your business every hour of every day. They can see the wood from the trees. 2) If they're good, they can compare your opportunities and challenges to those they have seen before. In that case, they can be good guides of what to do, or not to do. 3) They can be good listeners and 4) good connectors. But and this is more for my VC brethren, they are not the smartest people in the room because they wrote a check or went to a great school. If you're running the company, you are thinking about your business 24/7. Leverage VC partners and all they can do but also trust your intuition. You are the smartest in the room.

Yes the valuation matters. However few people are able to extract this value until the company succeeds and there is some form of liquity event. This could take years and there's a significant distance between valuations and this exit. Don't lose good investors / partners because you, as a founder, have this magical, wet finger in the air number you think your company is worth. Having the right investors onboard is more important than achieving a particular valuation during a round. Its a number on a piece of paper which will change by the next round. Up or down. I would be flexible on the valuation to have the right people backing me and helping my company to succeed. Long term value comes from the right people not the right valuation.

Targeting VCs: When reaching out to VCs, tailor your pitch to their specific investment focus. Review their profile to understand their preferences and past investments. Getting through the door: Craft a concise paragraph that clearly explains what your company does. Leverage your network to secure an introduction to the right VC. First Meeting: Develop a simple slide deck, primarily consisting of visuals. Engaging with VCs: Before pitching, ask questions about what they are looking for. Use their answers to orientate your pitch and hit the target. Next Steps: propose a follow-up meeting Rinse and Repeat: Continuously refine your pitch based on feedback and insights gained from each meeting. Your goal is to get the next meeting. Repeat.

It would have been easy to discuss selling or taking a company public. What I thought would be most useful, was a discussion on the exit strategy when the founders have had enough. I have invested in 100+ companies; sometimes the exit is when the founders raise their hands and say "I can't go on". It's gut wrenching, incredibly emotional for the founders more than anyone. Investors lose money, founders lose their dream and the dedicated years. If I've learned one thing, go lightly on the founder, you can't talk them into it. Supporting their mental health and the transition to what's next should be the focus. If you're a VC, this exit will happen often. Be human, it's tougher for them than for you. They'll remember your help and support.

Focus on moving the VC pitch meeting from a sales experience - i.e. where you are 'pitching them' and instead turn it into a constructive discussion about the business. Before launching into a pitch, spend the beginning of the meeting asking what motivates the VC to invest. Why did they agree to meet? Ask them what's important for them. Once they tell you, this helps you orientate your pitch to highlight your opportunity to those areas of interest. You don't get money for being the person who talks the most. After your pitch, have a discussion about the business. Ask them how they would help. Move it from a sale to a constructive conversation where they begin to get emotionally invested in your success and being part of the journey.

I prefer finding an investor who shares our mission and culture, even if it means accepting a lower valuation, rather than accepting an investor who is not fully aligned but offers a higher valuation. Life is too short to spend the next five or ten years with the wrong investor.