What I look for in a pitch • Hacker News Board

Re: What I look for in a pitch

#21

Post by elmar » Tue, Aug 22, 2017, 7:26 PM UTC

shanev wrote: post #18

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they actually look for is momentum and all these conditions are 'bent' when that weird FOMO feeling takes over. Yup, this exactly. MAYBE your team matters depending on who you are talking with, but if some VC gets a whiff that you have 2MM users, are growing 5x MOM for the past 6 months with 1% churn and high engagement they will literally hunt you down to throw their money at you.

Can confirm. And they'll call you on your personal cell. VCs are tracking us just as much, if not more, as we are tracking them.

Gurley spoke again and again on not getting Google, being put off by its valuation as many were back then. “[We are] looking for positive black swans if you think you see one any price is kinda any price,” he said of the mounting valuation mania around unicorns. “The Google round-- because I was there went down-- $80 million-$90 million [pre-money valuation] with no revenue and it seemed crazy. You can only lose one time your money the real losses are the missed outcomes. You have to teach yourself to be more optimistic than maybe you were programmed to yourself because there’s way more cost to a false negative.”

Re: What I look for in a pitch

#22

Post by dasil003 » Tue, Aug 22, 2017, 8:30 PM UTC

jasode wrote: post #14

dasil003 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offering equity is nothing more than giving a stake in the company. An IPO is only one way that can pay off, and these days probably not even the most likely. Of course VCs want you to believe that an IPO is the only successful exit, because they want moonshots. But as a founder you need to keep your own council as to the wisdom of pursuing growth at all costs.

>Of course VCs want you to believe that an IPO is the only successful exit, Yes IPO is not the only way. VCs will also consider an acquisition by Google/Facebook/Microsoft/Amazon at a good price to be a "successful exit" and will explicitly go over those possible scenarios with the founder. But there are other motives behind exploring the acquisition scenarios: 1) VC is actually asking in a more roundabout way if the…

You can also grant equity in a bootstrapped or angel-funded company where the goal is not an exit, but to build a profitable business. The main thrust of my point is that granting equity to employees is not only for VC-funded companies in the typical moonshot case study.

Re: What I look for in a pitch

#23

Post by sdfljpi » Wed, Aug 23, 2017, 2:53 AM UTC

modi15 wrote: post #10

There is a difference between what VC's claim they look for, and what they actually look for. What they actually look for is momentum and all these conditions are 'bent' when that weird FOMO feeling takes over. Anyone who thinks that all this data is pertinent to make the investment decision will most likely never say yes to any startup.

pretty sure they're making investments in startups over there