Being a big fan of Woody Allen’s early films, it is with hesitation that I present to you this named rule and its follow-on twin.
Image by Arty Smokes via Flickr
Rule #2728: If the founder of a startup reminds you of Woody Allen, run away…
My father-in-law always says that it is too bad that comedy isn’t [...]
This rule is now written after a couple interactions with “middlemen” or “deal brokers”. For the most part, our industry works off of the FSBO – “For Sale by Owner” – model. Occassionally, we are passed deals by professional brokers whose job it is to make the market for a startup and later stage company. [...]
Rule #7225: “When you contact a founder, and he and his assistant pronounce his name very differently, be suspicious; if you proceed, allow twice as much time for due diligence efforts.”
Just a funny one; no real moral here except to remember that personal branding is important…
Image by Tywak via Flickr
Rule #6396: “Immediately PASS on any deals in which the founder starts their introductory email with the phrase, ‘You may recognize my name…’”
We have seen plenty of deals cross our desk with well-known founders – former startup successes that we know, technology heroes, even one from THE Ashton Kutcher (I didn’t [...]
Image by Minako Bracken via Flickr
We got a cold email inbound (translation: a request for funding, via email, from someone we don’t know and who wasn’t introduced to us by someone we know) today from a founder trying to convince us to fund his company that makes surfing the web easier.
Rule #4759: “Beware any founder [...]