Over the past year well over 100 companies have presented their business to us while attempting to raise funding. We focus on expansion stage companies which means there is a product being sold to real customers. In other words they have the seeds of becoming a real business. Not surprisingly, almost without exception, the entrepreneurs come prepared to make a strong first impression. Most do, although most most of the businesses that they are trying to build don't. Given the high stakes involved to create a new company/getting funding and the reality of how difficult that is, both would be expected.
Second impression however have disappointed. For some reason the majority of entrepreneurs fail miserably when it comes to crisp, effective follow-up. Two things pop to mind immediately. First, a simple thank you email or phone call is as rare as snow in Miami. What ever happened to common courtesy that mom taught us? I can assure you it's a dying art in Silicon Valley. I find myself as guilty as anyone in this regard but I've come to realize that it actually can set the tone for the future relationship. It's so simple, just do it!
The second, and perhaps a more concerning failure, is how poorly most companies respond to requests for additional information. 100% of the time we need more information to be able fully understand the business that we are being asked to invest in. 99.9% of the time the information we get back is one of three things: 1) not what we asked for, 2) incomplete or 3) requires 30 minutes of work just to get it formatted to make if readable or printable. Unbelievable!
Message to all entrepreneurs: Second impressions matter allot so think about how to improve your batting record.
We'll talk more about this issue in a future post.
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