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VCs are liars. And so am I.

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Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#31

Post by [deleted] »

jbooth wrote: post #22
joering2 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But yet you couldn't even check basic facts like this guy has karma above 3,800 for over 4 years, +500 linkedin connections, tons of software engineering experience, and 19 job recommendations [1]. Sure; he writes and thinks like a kid. Let me ignore him! [1] http://phillip.onlinked.in/

Quote: " I'd talk to the OP again, after I make it bigtime and roll up in the Maserati, with a 6' tall, red-headed supermodel with a Scottish accent on my arm... and I'd say "fuck you, dude" and then buy a round of beers and sit back and laugh about the whole thing." He might be a professional success but based on this sample size, yeah, writes and thinks like a cocky 13yo until proven otherwise. No offense intended…

[deleted]

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#32

Post by mindcrime »

joering2 wrote: post #14
heretohelp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You write and think like a cocky 13 year old.

But yet you couldn't even check basic facts like this guy has karma above 3,800 for over 4 years, +500 linkedin connections, tons of software engineering experience, and 19 job recommendations [1]. Sure; he writes and thinks like a kid. Let me ignore him! [1] http://phillip.onlinked.in/

Thanks, but this isn't really about me. I'm just sharing one person's (almost certainly not unique) attitude towards dealing with negative feedback / rejection.

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#34

Post by taskstrike »

nirvana wrote: post #24

Dear OP: You always say the team is important. I couldn't agree with you more. The Team is important not only in the startup, but also in the group of people that make up your investors. Thus, given that we've decided your team is not strong enough to be investors in our company we're going to pass. In the future, it might be wise to hire partners who are not biased based on age, or prone to making decisions based on…

Unfortunately, the market dynamic is that there are lot more startups looking for funding that VCs looking for startups to fund.

The reverse rejection does not work in this case.

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#35

Post by [deleted] »

jcrites wrote: post #28
jerhewet wrote: post #16

> And I see the flip side, people that are past the age of 50 [...] are not capable of creating compelling social products. This tells me everything I need to know about this ass monkey.

What does it tell you? I am trying to understand what you mean. Do you believe every person the author met over the age of 50 is in fact capable of building compelling social products, and that the author has misjudged them?

[deleted]

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#37

Post by rexreed »

Jitle wrote: post #11
mindcrime wrote: post #2

Feh, just be honest with people. If they get defensive, they get defensive, so what? I'd love to hear you tell me "I just don't think you have what it takes," as that's just going to pour fuel on my fire and motivate me to work that much harder just to spite you. I love negative feedback like that... fuck all ya'll, because when I'm running a billion dollar company and rocking up to your shitty office in my Maserati…

This response perfectly demonstrates the need to lie as stated in the article. As an investor, you say "no" A LOT. I can't have the 99% of people I talk to walking away with an attitude. I received the introduction to one of our best investments from a CEO we said no to. Do you think that CEO would have made the introduction if I had told him he doesn't have what it takes to be a founder at a VC backed startup?

How many times a day do you think successful startup founders hear "no" and get on with it?

How many times a day do you think successful startup founders say "no"?

A lot.

Learn to be successful. Say no and learn to accept no.

It's surprising how dishonesty permeates the financial services industries (of which venture capital is one).

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#38

Post by seigenblues »

TheSOB88 wrote: post #30
nirvana wrote: post #24

Dear OP: You always say the team is important. I couldn't agree with you more. The Team is important not only in the startup, but also in the group of people that make up your investors. Thus, given that we've decided your team is not strong enough to be investors in our company we're going to pass. In the future, it might be wise to hire partners who are not biased based on age, or prone to making decisions based on…

Right, because every startup is Worth It (TM l'Oreal). :P Of course, you're also right - I don't think this guy is a very effective VC at this point. Some of his points seemed completely disconnected. But a person hand-waving or getting nervous on an important topic is a great flag to look for, don't you think?

No, it isn't.

I was writing a long post about how we think we're really good at detecting "important signals" like if someone's lying, but that we're actually terrible at it. But the new yorker article that was frontpaging yesterday should pretty much explain it, even though Jonah Lehrer is a bit smug for my tastes ;)

TL;DR- the OP sounds like a very shallow-thinking VC who's blissfully unaware of his own biases. It might work out ok for him -- these biases usually work most of the time, and that's why we have them -- but it will probably fail in some very crucial instances where a more thorough, data-driven approach might have worked better. In fact, that may be precisely how the great VC's are differentiated from the merely ok, but that's a different story...

(link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/frontal-cortex/2012/06...)

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#39

Post by cookiecaper »

jerhewet wrote: post #16

> And I see the flip side, people that are past the age of 50 [...] are not capable of creating compelling social products. This tells me everything I need to know about this ass monkey.

Your ellipses excludes some important context:

>people that are past the age of 50 and are trying to start a mobile, local, social startup but really are not capable

Not "all people past the age of 50 -are- incapable", just people who are so incapable they don't recognize the credibility they lack due to external influential but not necessarily exclusive factors like their age, background, and appearance. I think all of us could rattle off a list of 50+ year old "geezers" that could pull something like this off, but the reality is that many of them can barely use a cell phone. If your presentation doesn't include measures to address that assumed, pre-programmed credibility gap, which often means just talking about things in a way that demonstrates you know what you are talking about and actually can navigate around Android, then you likely don't (yet) have the realism or the drive necessary to make something go.

The 50+ remark is just a way to say "This guy looks like he can barely use Outlook", or "This guy is out of touch". Perhaps not the most well-considered illustration, but I think we can get the OP's point without throwing a politically correct hissy-fit.

Re: VCs are liars. And so am I.

#40

Post by EREFUNDO »

mindcrime wrote: post #7
sgrove wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is a perfect reason why it'll never happen. What does the other side gain from telling you the truth and burning bridges like this? Best to give a vague, non-committal reason so there's always a chance they can talk with you again in the future. Investors (to take one example) are fallible and scared . They're driven by fear, and by greed - fear that they might miss out on the next facebook (it'll go on thei…

Oh, no, no, no... at least in my case, I certainly didn't mean to imply that I'd take any bridges as having been burned. When I say "fuck ya'll" I mean that in the best possible way... I want to have that chip on my shoulder, I'd take it as them having done me a favor if somebody tells me that they think I can't hack it. I feed off that shit. Best to give a vague, non-committal reason so there's always a chance they…

Damn I feed off that shit too! What I noticed about myself is that I would try so much harder when people tell me I can't do it, I am hell bent on proving them wrong. The problem is that much of my life people have been nice to me......I need more assholes in my life....LOL
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