91–100 of 102 posts
That's why we have lawyers; that's why artists have agents. People who don't care one way or the other and for whom nothing's ever personal.
Entrepreneurs need professional pitchers -- agents who would be able to gather honest feedback and tell it like it is.
Probably, OP should have mentioned different pointers, but still I think that such comments are missing an important point of this post by Josh - honest feedback almost never works.
I have managed up to 30 people, [colleagues and HQ people not counting] - 95% of the time honest feedback does not work, mostly because of the:
- ego, or
- hidden agenda
5% it worked with people, with whom I had working relationships, based on mutual trust AND they were all GetDone high performing individuals.
So what do you do when you know that honest feedback will not work?
Are you going to hit a brick wall with your head?
No... you come up with some nice words, etc.
You can like such people, value them, but if you feel that they can not accept your honest feedback, you don't give it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. The value/measure of a VC to their bosses (their LP / investors) are whether or not they provide a good return. Period. Their bosses do not incentivize them based on great interviewing skills. There is nothing to be "called out" for here. They could have the crappiest interviewing skills, as long as they make their investors money. This is not a contest on meritocracy, or skill, as it pertains to interviewing. 2.…
Regarding #1. The author of the essay left out that he and the other VCs have learned to identify behavior in the interview that equates to ability, or lack of ability, to make money. For example, the fidgeting he observes in response to a certain question indicates that the founder is less likely to make money because of an unaddressed problem, possibly unaddressable due to the founder's character or way of doing bu…
Sorry, what is a "VC"?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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. What a load of crap. A 50 year old today could easily have been a 20 year old AI programmer in 1980, and he probably knows more about technology than the rest of us put together. Computers aren't actually that new, ya know, and are not the exclu…
Obviously I never meant to imply that there were no programmers who are 50+. In fact, I work with some of them, and I respect them greatly. I don't have any hard data, but I can say, anecdotally, most 50+ are not "techies" and they don't know their way around a computer system. I believe this belief is rather common. I think some 50+ year olds would make exceptional startup founders. However, an older person who may…
OK, that might actually be a fair point, if you're talking about the population of 50+ people at large. But in the context of "people founding tech startups," my guess would be that pretty much any "50+ tech startup founder" probably is a techie, or is at least pretty tech savvy.
Now if you had J. Random 50+ guy who had spent his entire career as a tobacco company accountant and he suddenly showed up saying he was founding "The Next Instagram," then maybe there would be some reason to go "hmmm... wait a minute." But, honestly, I think you could subtract the "50+" part of that and the point would be exactly the same. Would it matter if J. Random 25 year old tobacco company accountant showed up and said "I'm founding The Next Instagram?" Wouldn't the reason for the skepticism be the individual's background and experiences, and not their age?
We are all free to pontificate on whether this is a fair generalization or not, but I think it is clearly that it is commonly held and something an older founder will have to face and address if he wants to succeed.
Probably, but I wouldn't want to be in the business of helping perpetuate this kind of ageism.
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…
If it was the other way around, you have tons of traction and investors are waiting out the door to invest then you might be able to say that. But in the end, I feel like it still does no good.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
At a high level I feel like we should be no more influence by those who say we're right than wrong. In a way, being driven to prove people wrong is being controlled by them. Because sometimes they may be correct, and our best bet would be to change strategies, and sticking to our guns just to prove them wrong will hold us back.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The most-analogous situation I've been with this is in hiring, and if one of my coworkers gave age or "fidgeting in chair" as a reason not to hire, I would call them out on it. I'm sorry, but that's simply not a valid measure of competence. If these are the reasons VCs choose not to invest in companies, then the reason VCs lie is because their reasoning is bullshit, and they don't want to get called out on it.
While VCs may very well misjudge prospective startups far too often, choosing not to invest in a company because you have a negative impression of the founders is not a bullshit reason for passing. Reading people is a very important skill, part of which is subconcious and, therefore, very difficult to explain to others. It's such an important skill that one-on-one interviews are often still done in person, even thoug…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
On a (semi)-related note: http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-go-about-acquiring-a-worthy-o... Need a nemesis or arch-rival? Here ya go... Quora on how to find one. :-)