Comments on: VC dilemma: How many "No"s before a "Yes"? http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2007/12/17/vc-dilemma-how-many-nos-before-a-yes/ Entrepreneur. Author. Speaker & Alchemist Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rajesh Setty http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2007/12/17/vc-dilemma-how-many-nos-before-a-yes/comment-page-1/#comment-1430 Rajesh Setty Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:54:14 +0000 http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/2007/12/17/vc-dilemma-how-many-nos-before-a-yes/#comment-1430 Thanks Karthik. The last couple of years I have been involved on both sides and have seen multiple variations of this such as: * good people with good ideas not getting funded * good people with bad ideas getting funded * questionable teams with questionable ideas getting funded * questionable teams with great ideas getting funded and so on. The legends that you mention in the VC world sadly are an exception than the rule :( I agree with you on the people aspect and it is true whether the discussion is about funding or not. Thank you. Best, Raj Thanks Karthik.

The last couple of years I have been involved on both sides and have seen multiple variations of this such as:
* good people with good ideas not getting funded
* good people with bad ideas getting funded
* questionable teams with questionable ideas getting funded
* questionable teams with great ideas getting funded

and so on.

The legends that you mention in the VC world sadly are an exception than the rule :(

I agree with you on the people aspect and it is true whether the discussion is about funding or not.

Thank you.

Best,
Raj

]]> By: Karthik Sundaram http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2007/12/17/vc-dilemma-how-many-nos-before-a-yes/comment-page-1/#comment-1429 Karthik Sundaram Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:30:05 +0000 http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/2007/12/17/vc-dilemma-how-many-nos-before-a-yes/#comment-1429 Raj: the key phrase you seem to have forgotten here is the "venture" in venture capital. If they fund only successful companies, they are farming loans. Also, VCs tend to fund people, not ideas. Speak to legends like John Doerr, Yogen Dalal, Mark Kvamme and others, and you will realize that the idea could be simple: it is the people who will make the idea successful. To reflect on your observations (not sure how correct the 8-out-of-10 conclusion is), the number of no's depend on the number of weak teams and weaker business plans that are thrown at these folks. Agreed, not many of the VC partners have run companies in the past (that is a completely different topic), but they do have a very good sense of knowing BS when they see it. People in the Valley take it for granted that VCs HAVE a duty to fund every idea. Many ideas have worked without venture funding too, simply because the entrepreneur has chosen to build the POC based on his/her superior team skills. Comes back to people, eh? Cheers Karthik Raj: the key phrase you seem to have forgotten here is the “venture” in venture capital. If they fund only successful companies, they are farming loans. Also, VCs tend to fund people, not ideas. Speak to legends like John Doerr, Yogen Dalal, Mark Kvamme and others, and you will realize that the idea could be simple: it is the people who will make the idea successful.

To reflect on your observations (not sure how correct the 8-out-of-10 conclusion is), the number of no’s depend on the number of weak teams and weaker business plans that are thrown at these folks. Agreed, not many of the VC partners have run companies in the past (that is a completely different topic), but they do have a very good sense of knowing BS when they see it. People in the Valley take it for granted that VCs HAVE a duty to fund every idea.

Many ideas have worked without venture funding too, simply because the entrepreneur has chosen to build the POC based on his/her superior team skills. Comes back to people, eh?

Cheers
Karthik

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