Posts from VC

Should You Introduce Yourself To Me At A Bar?

Saw this question on Hacker News today:

Went to a talk by a VC who is very active in my area. Didn't get a chance to introduce myself after the talk (there were < 25 ppl at the talk but the VC had to run). A few hours later, was out for drinks with a friend and saw he was at the same bar but talking with someone else. Discussion ensued with my buddies around whether or not I should intro myself considering I didn't have a chance earlier in the day, but I ultimately decided against it. What say you: Should I have? I ask for the next time I'm in this situation.

I say hell yes you should introduce yourself. But you should also respect that the VC is out with friends and probably isn't up for a long conversation.

I would suggest you walk up to the VC, say "I saw your talk today. It was great. My name is Jane Doe and I'd love to find a suitable time to tell you what I'm working on. I'll send you an email to follow up. It's a real pleasure to meet you." Then make a polite departure.

My view on these sorts of things is that I love meeting people, no matter where I am. But I don't love being pitched when I'm out with friends and family. The Gotham Gal has witnessed this so many times that she gets annoyed by it now. It happens most often at parties. Sometimes she'll just grab me and say "let's get out of here."

Social situations are ideal for a quick hello. Make an impression. Put a face to a name. But don't pitch. That's going overboard.

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Techcrunch TV Interview

I’m doing an interview today with Sarah Lacy of TechCrunch. It is the first episode of a new show on TechcrunchTV called Ask A VC. Sarah blogged about it early this week.

The interview is taking place at 2pm eastern today. I don’t know if it will be broadcast live or delayed. But it will appear on TechcrunchTV sometime today. Once it airs, I will embed it here in this post.

If you have questions you want Sarah to ask me, you can email them to her at askavc(at)techcrunch(dot)com.

Here is the interview:



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Mastering The VC Game

My friend and fellow VC Jeff Bussgang has written an excellent book about entrepreneurs and VCs called “Mastering The VC Game.” If you are an entrepreneur who plans to work with VCs at some point in your career, you should read the book. It’s a fast read. You could easily read it in a cross country flight.

It’s full of stories about entrepreneurs and VCs and how they worked together. There is one about me and Jack Dorsey and Twitter that TechCrunch has excerpted today

I’m not feeling very well today, I think it’s allergies but I’m not sure. So I don’t have a lot in me right now. So instead of reading AVC today, go to Techcrunch and read the excerpt and then hopefully you’ll want to go to Amazon and buy the book.

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