How to Meet Venture Capitalists
It's easier than you think to meet VCs
Venture Capitalist have a job to make investments in companies that provide a return on their (or their LPs) capital. Since this is their job, they are usually quite amenable to meeting with an entrepreneur to hear a pitch. At least one pitch.
When I started raising venture capital for HubPages I had few contacts. Here is how I developed a set of contacts with some of the world's best venture funds.
- Venture Capital Firm: How to Find the One That's Right For You?
- VCs and Dating
An analogy of dating and venture capital. I wrote it.
- Get a well connected and respected Silicon Valley attorney. Find a partner on their website and call them up and tell them you are looking for an attorney for your startup. We used Orrick.
- Ask your new attorney for introductions to venture funds. The attorneys have a vested interest in helping you raise money since they often do early work like setting up your corporation, but defer their fees until you are funded.
- Read blogs of Venture Capitalist. VCs love to tout the IRR of their blogs. Most of them have an email address on their blog. Send an email "I've been reading your blog and thought you might be interested in.....". This is how I met Hummer Winblad who funded us.
- Get a bank. Silicon Valley Bank also helps connect entreprenuers with VCs. Go to them and ask about their programs. They are free and provide good contacts. I met KP and others through them.
- Send cold emails. Make a list of the top funds and send an email to them. Just one with a bit about your background and your business. Keep it short. Very short. I had great responses to this.
Comments
Paul, don't give away your secrets!
Now jimmythejock is going to go make a hubpages clone and get funded...
You're a better man than I am, Paul. Every shot I've taken at VC in the last 20 years has resulted in a shut down. I was working with the NYC VCs who likely have a different attitude and mindset than the Silicon Valley guys. Glad to see that it worked for you!
I don't know much about the NYC VCs. I think something like 40% of the world's venture capital is in Silicon Valley. Probably better odds here in the SF Bay area.
Very interesting information. Thank you.
Intresting and precise info. Thanks Paul.
So You started hubpages.com? This site is something :)
Paul this is great information!
I just started a limited run podcast that focuses on emerging growth tech businesses in the Mid-Atlantic region (Baltimore, MD down to Virgina Beach, VA).
It will be intereststing to see what their experiences are compared to yours in terms of fundraising and dealing with Angels and VCs. Based on Hal Lincio's comment re. NY VCs, it would be interesting to see if there's a difference between VCs on either coast in their approach to funding.
Thanks for the info!
great info Paul! Short and to the point. especially liked the fact you sent out emails yourself to VCs. Got you any funding or just your lawyer?
We did get our first funding via a cold email. $2 million.
Very interesting -- I'm surprised and impressed that you had such encouraging responses from cold emails. Thanks for the inspiration and motivation!
Paul,
Id love to see a copy of the email you sent that resulted in $2m funding. It would be a great reference for myself and other entrepreneurs tying to replicate your success.
I wish I still had it.
peeling 4 years ago
Wow. Thanks. I wasn't expecting such precise and accurate information. This is great.
Edit: Just found out there's already a lot of hubs related to venture capital. Should have checked up first.....