Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by hdhdhshw on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @05:40PM
(#9423756)
This is exactly the issue I find with a lot of venture capital firms. They're letting Ycombinator kill their deal flows because they're too stubborn to consider deals from outside their networks. It's a shame really. Some of these firms have the nerve to say Silicon Valley is merit based when they're simply just taking institutional capital and funding their rich boy network.
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Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by applecore on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @05:48PM
(#9423803)
The best entrepreneurs will always find a way into the networks of top-tier VCs.
Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by staunch on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @05:56PM
(#9423846)
The most common way the best entrepreneurs find their way into their networks is by succeeding without their help. The old VC strategy of just waiting around to pick off the winners won't work so well these days.
The idea that the best entrepreneurs are good at things like personal networking, or ladder climbing, is clearly false.
One example: Elon Musk didn't have the "hustle" to talk to anyone in the Netscape lobby, when he marched in there to get a job. He nervously stood around for a while and then went home in quiet shame. That's Elon Musk before you knew him.
Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by applecore on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @08:32PM
(#9424387)
Your anecdote mostly proves my point: Elon Musk marched into the lobby; everyone else stayed at home.
Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by proksoup on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @08:19PM
(#9424356)
He's got more hustle than me --- I would have had the panic attack before I went out the door of my home to go the lobby.
Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by bbreier on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @05:57PM
(#9423853)
As long as you define "best" as those who get funded by top-tier VCs, sure.
Re:First Round Capital Open Application for Startups
by hkailahi on Wednesday April 22, 2015 @06:09PM
(#9423909)
What if you have it backwards? The top VC firms stay the top VC firms if they attract and fund the best entrepreneurs. The best entrepreneurs are the best entrepreneurs regardless of which VC networks they tap.
First Capital realizes this, and is making a move to capture the important opportunities they would miss out on otherwise.