132. A Thousand Reasons To Say No, Only One Reason To Say Yes
The founders that are the best at unlocking that one reason are the ones that run a tight process.
I also mention The Daily Bolster podcast, which is packed with advice for founders. Check it out here: https://podcast.bolster.com/public/142/The-Daily-Bolster-29d59cf2
About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech, logistics, and marketplace businesses. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.
About Rich Maloy
Rich’s mission is to rebuild the American dream through entrepreneurship. He believes technology gives all people the opportunity to grow, learn and earn. He is a Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures and the host of the VC Minute podcast. With prior careers in finance and sales, he's been focused on the startup ecosystem for over a dozen years. He's a father of two young children and loves sci-fi, skiing, and video games.
Happy Friday, everyone. I mentioned earlier in the week that the host of The Daily Bolster podcast, Matt Blumberg, will be on the VC Minute this season. I'll also be on his pod for one of the daily episodes. Definitely goes up to that whole podcast, listen to season one because it is filled with great advice. Link in the show notes. Today. I want to share one piece of advice I offered to his audience and something I've been reflecting on quite a bit lately. There are a thousand reasons and investor says, no. But only one reason they say yes. They say yes when they can't possibly say no. I've interviewed quite a few founders for the VC Minute and consistent feedback. Is that there are some"no's" that you can control and some that you can't control. You need to adjust for what you can control, but you have to simply move on from all of it. The irony is that all of those individual reasons that an investor could say no, immediately go out the window when that investor is so deeply bought into you and your business. At SpringTime, we call this the founder distortion field. Things that normally would have killed the process for an investor become irrelevant when a VC is in the founder distortion field. I'll give you an example. There was an entire sub sector of FinTech that I thought was not venture backable. That is, until I met one founder who he couldn't possibly say no to, and we made an investment. That founder is Neha Govindraj, CEO and founder of Bonside, and she's one of our guests this season on the VC Minute. Generating the founder distortion field may come from an Aha Moment or good old fashioned pool party dynamics. And it will likely be different for each investor. It also underscores the importance of getting a meeting. And I know you already know this. What I've found from my interviews is that the founders who are the best at this are so because they have run a process. Pay attention to what the founders are telling you both in season two and the forthcoming episodes in season three. The founders that are the best at generating the distortion field have a process. They work their process to get through the VC process. Have a great weekend everybody we'll be back on monday with our first guest of season three.
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