Thread by @fdestin

1/ Dear friends, here is a long fiery thread on "shit VC's do that makes founders angry" -- as expressed by founders 😡

Because, you know, look in the mirror.

2/ THE CARDINAL SIN: ARROGANCE.

"As a founder, you’re putting your heart on the line. You want to work with people who care!"

Arrogance is by far the most cited word in the thread.

One from the archives (the more things change...) : freddestin.com/2009/12/the-ar…

3/ SAYING NO.

Or rather, NOT saying no.

And all that relates: Lack of insight into the VC process/timing/ slow 'no's. No transparency on real timelines for decision making. Failure to give honest feedback after passing on a deal.

4/ Meetings with zero intention to invest while already engaged with a competitor. Wasting founder time. Tire kicking.

"A lot of people are just insincere, which feels really douchey"

5/ STRONG OPINIONS, STRONGLY HELD

Lack of self awareness + strong opinions = classic recipe. "One million percent confident about every opinion, all the time". Pretending they know the recipe to success.

6/ "VC makes strong claim about X based on experience Y, but neither explains Y nor considers how situation X might actually differ from Y."

Anecdotal opinions that ignore the data ("yes, but my friend who's a doctor said that...")

7/ "Pretending to understand tech, making our CTO's bite their tongues"

"Sheep mentality (not saying yes / no until they see what the rest of their peers do)"

And my favourite: "Projecting onto the founder is if you were a cookie cutter applying itself to dough."

8/ On a good note: "The best investors modulate their confidence appropriately AND communicate varied confidence in various claims: I have a strong opinion about X because I have in depth first hand experience vs I think this about Y but I’m just speculating".

9/ NOT ACTUALLY TAKING RISK
“If you were a PLC ....”

Waxing lyrical about wanting to back outliers while obsessing about unit economics pre- PM.

“There is nothing in the future, that cannot be explained by a spreadsheet from the past”

10/ Most of them tell “we back you from the very first day” “no idea is too early” and then “how many units have you sold? How much money have you earned?”

--> They say they take risk but they don’t.

11/ BOARD IRRELEVANCE

Superlatives and cliches from a distance. Yes there is the ‘model’ and the ‘benchmarks’ and then there is what happens in real life on the front line.

Balance is good. Jargon bingo - bad!

12/ "Constantly offering startup advice, having never really run a startup. A bit like virgins offering love-making lessons."

Sending advice / people / partnership ideas that aren't really a fit.

Not being constructive with feedback when things go wrong.

13/ "Board meetings that feel like minor inquisitions."

Giving different messages to different people. Not being honest. Speaking or scheming behind your back. Hiding stuff.

14/ and of course:

"Pushing founders to take too many risks and play too much of a lottery"

15/ And to finish with a bit of fun:

Forcing founders to take meetings in obscenely posh offices
Immoderate sporting of gilets
Patting each other on the back for blog posts.

"Yeah, founders don't have time for that! "