,
18 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
1/ We just finished YCombinator. Surrounding Demo Day, we went to a lot of investor meetings. Such conversations are usually well-choreographed, methodical, and formulaic, but their physical conditions can be variable and random.
Let me explain:
Let me explain:
2/ The following will substantially (though subtly) impact the flow of a meeting:
1. Furniture
2. Room layout
3. Where people sit
Despite the outsized impact the above can have on the outcome, their configuration is often haphazard.
I have been documenting my findings for you
1. Furniture
2. Room layout
3. Where people sit
Despite the outsized impact the above can have on the outcome, their configuration is often haphazard.
I have been documenting my findings for you
3/ Before I continue, I should mention that I think about seating a lot. I spoke to NPR once about where to sit at dinner: npr.org/2013/03/24/175…
Maybe I think about it too much.
Maybe I think about it too much.
4/ My previous article outlines basic tactics for unassigned, asynchronous seat selection at the dinner table: alexcornell.com/musical-chairs…
Pitch meetings aren't usually held at a dinner table (thankfully), but many of the same seating principles apply.
Pitch meetings aren't usually held at a dinner table (thankfully), but many of the same seating principles apply.
5/ Investor meetings include notable differences:
- Table size is rarely optimized for party size
- Conversation is semi-structured, as opposed to freeform
- There are two "sides" (and sometimes one is outnumbered)
With that in mind, here are some configurations we encountered:
- Table size is rarely optimized for party size
- Conversation is semi-structured, as opposed to freeform
- There are two "sides" (and sometimes one is outnumbered)
With that in mind, here are some configurations we encountered:
6/ The Bistro: This is a simple and common seating arrangement. However, it's rare to see a meeting room with a tiny layout like this in an office. More often, these are encountered off-site, where noise conditions and crowd dynamics are dangerously unpredictable and volatile. 
7/ The Casual Friday: This array can work pretty well, but there is only one appropriate seating arrangement (shown). It's easy to get this wrong – for example, if only one person sits on the couch, it can feel like they're in trouble. (Worse: everyone could sit on the couch 😂.)
8/ The Planetarium: It's difficult to know where to sit in a room like this, due to the awkwardness of sitting directly next to someone you've just met. Therefore, empty chairs are used as comfort-spacers, which create unnaturally long distances between parties.
9/ The Awkward Line: This shouldn't happen, but it can (sometimes as a result of the door's position, and entry timing). If it does, it's extremely awkward for the person in the middle of the conversation. It's worth excusing yourself and repositioning if this occurs.
10/ The Tear Drop: Of the conditions I've seen so far, this was my favorite. The table's unexpected and natural shape puts all parties at ease and obliquely prevents confrontational angles. I'd never seen a tear drop table before, but it was the best.
11/ The Job Interview: There are two things going on here: a weird room layout (confrontational array) and bad positioning of the remote participants. Remote participants are inevitable, but they should be positioned with eye-lines in mind.
12/ The I Thought The Meeting Was Today: At least you "got the time back", as we used to say at Facebook.
13/ The Hard to Schedule: As intimidating as this looks, it's actually perfectly optimized for what it is (a full partner meeting).
That's the key: the space is optimized for the conversation that's going to take place inside.
That's the key: the space is optimized for the conversation that's going to take place inside.
14/ That is some of what we have observed. There were countless other arrays but mostly just variations on the above themes.
15/ Pitch meetings are not normal meetings; their conditions should be hyper-considered. As we've seen, if they're not, the collateral impact on conversational dynamic can range from plain awkwardness to subconscious adversariness.
16/ Both investor and entrepreneur have honed their performances – the conversation – over years. Each side knows how to execute their part in the pitch dance.
But the stage itself – the meeting room – lags woefully behind in terms of optimization. This is an opportunity!
But the stage itself – the meeting room – lags woefully behind in terms of optimization. This is an opportunity!
17/ The best restaurants understand how physical conditions impact experience. The same should apply in the meeting room. The conditions should be optimized. *Dialed-in.*
If I were an investor, I would think about this a lot.
If I were an investor, I would think about this a lot.
18/ As always, I hate tweet storms, but this is the world we live in now. Should you prefer an article on a personal website (as I do), you can find that here: alexcornell.com/investor-meeti…
