Dear Dumb VC - Hackdot

Re:Dear Dumb VC by mkoble11 on Saturday May 25, 2013 @12:54PM (#5767796)

The VC was seventy-five minutes late to the meeting. She refused to see him even though he was in the office and her calendar was clear. Later that week she raised money from someone else. He kept emailing her saying his partners were going to kill him, please take the meeting with me.She never took the meeting, and she never called him back.

Good for her. If he's 75 minutes late the very first meeting, that signals you're not a priority and could suffer in the future when you most need it.

I don't care how "big" you are....if you want people to respect you, respect their time.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Dear Dumb VC by notahacker on Saturday May 25, 2013 @03:48PM (#5768578)

We know from the article the VC had flown into town to see her and had the rest of the day clear as well, which suggests seeing her was a priority. Not calling to say he'd be late certainly suggests a lack of judgement (although we don't know the reasons/excuses behind that) but refusing to see him to prove a point smacks of arrogance, even if she didn't need the investment by them. I bet she'll miss a few scheduled appointments "on her way to building a billion dollar company" too.

The whole article reeks of sense of entitlement: I guess it's easier for the article author to feel a lot smarter than an industry when he's already persuaded it to part with >$70million to try to get his company to profitability, but he'd be in a stronger position to lecture the dumb VCs if and when he actually produces the return that proves his superb judgement negated the need for their suggestions and everybody that hesitated to offer terms should have called him earlier.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Dear Dumb VC by bayesianhorse on Saturday May 25, 2013 @01:26PM (#5767931)

Probably depends on the reason for the delay. If he delivered his child to the hospital for example, I wouldn't want to be his priority.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Dear Dumb VC by nsmartt on Saturday May 25, 2013 @01:54PM (#5768055)

I thought this too, but the article makes no indication that he ever attempted to explain. He could have called/emailed and explained in advance, and asked to reschedule—even for the same day—, or he could have explained in one of the emails he sent afterwards.

Of course, this information could just be omitted from the article.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Dear Dumb VC by mkoble11 on Saturday May 25, 2013 @01:52PM (#5768051)

Probably depends on the reason for the delay. If he delivered his child to the hospital for example, I wouldn't want to be his priority.

Totally agree. Common courtesy would dictate that he should take 1 minute to pick up the phone and say "Hey, my wife is in labor...gotta reschedule".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Dear Dumb VC by mikescoffield on Saturday May 25, 2013 @02:03PM (#5768115)

Her reaction seems a bit too emotional.

[ Parent | on HN ]