Founders share VC horror stories, and some are naming names

Asking task capitalists for concern is simply a rite of transition for tech founders. This has led to different cosmopolitan experience: the VC pitching fearfulness story. A massive conversation sharing specified stories has taken spot each week connected X with the comments some comic and infuriating. We work done them each to find the astir absorbing ones truthful you don’t person to.

Greg Isenberg, a startup podcaster, newsletter writer, and laminitis of Late Checkout Studio — a holding institution whose erstwhile ventures see a institution acquired by WeWork — got the speech started with a communicative astir a VC falling dormant during a transportation meeting. Isenberg has a ample pursuing connected X, and his station intelligibly struck a nerve.

“I was erstwhile pitching successful a committee country astatine a apical 3 VC steadfast for a $15M Series A. 12 radical successful the meeting. One of the GPs afloat fell asleep. Out acold for 30+ minutes. Nobody acknowledged it. Everyone conscionable kept going,” helium shared connected X.

VCs sleeping done transportation meetings was acold and distant the astir communal fearfulness communicative shared. Not conscionable drowsing, but afloat connected zonked.

Zynga laminitis Mark Pincus told his VC-asleep story. “I looked astatine my person who acceptable up the gathering and asked if one should support presenting and she said yes. It was ‘weekend astatine bernies’ meets Silicon Valley,” he wrote.

Interestingly, falling dormant didn’t mean the VC wouldn’t invest. Multiple founders reported receiving word sheets from partners who’d dozed disconnected during the pitch.

“I erstwhile pitched a concern successful 2015 for our Series A wherever 1 spouse (famous Midas lister) fell dormant & different couldn’t halt scowling. Got a telephone 2 hrs aft the IC that they were sending a word expanse over,” wrote Liz Wessel. Wessel, who co-founded and sold HR startup WayUp and is present a spouse astatine First Round Capital, said her squad didn’t instrumentality the wealth — and that the VC was shocked.

There were truthful galore stories astir VCs sleeping that erstwhile a16z spouse Arianna Simpson wrote, “Are VCs ok?? Narcolepsy appears to beryllium moving rampant.”

There were, of course, much than a fewer stories astir VCs signing word sheets past pulling retired past minute, oregon ghosting, ne'er wiring the money. The adjacent much galling part? Some of these VCs seemingly went connected to treat the founders similar portfolio companies anyway, asking for institution updates oregon to serve arsenic a reference. One laminitis said the VC adjacent wanted a stock of the post-acquisition proceeds.

Travis Kalanick, the Uber co-founder renowned for his determination, told a story astir discovering that a VC was attempting to shade the gathering and permission the building. Kalanick said helium followed the VC to his car and pitched from the passenger’s seat.

Not everyone had atrocious experiences to report. Some founders said they’ve ne'er had thing but great experiences with VCs, with a fewer adjacent sharing love stories astir circumstantial investors. Yes, astir VCs are hardworking, genuinely effort to beryllium helpful, and don’t instrumentality naps during meetings. But mediocre experiences are truthful communal that Pincus exclaimed, “I f*cking emotion this moment, erstwhile founders nary longer person to beryllium acrophobic to telephone retired VCs for dumb behavior.”

The astir stunning stories

Still, the stories that genuinely stunned were the ones posted by Cloudflare laminitis Matthew Prince. “A Sequoia spouse passed connected Cloudflare due to the fact that helium didn’t deliberation a pistillate could pb a information infrastructure company,” Prince wrote. The pistillate successful question is Cloudflare’s co-founder and COO Michelle Zatlyn. Given that Cloudflare is present an $87 cardinal marketplace headdress company, with expected yearly gross of $2.8 billion successful 2026, the judgement hasn’t aged well.

Sequoia partner, Shaun Maguire, nary alien to controversy implicit his remarks himself, replied that he’s ever admired Zatlyn, and asked Prince to spill the sanction of the spouse who said that. Prince punted, “Maybe implicit a portion 1 day. But I stake you person a bully conjecture already.”

But wait, Prince dished more!

He told a communicative astir salient capitalist Vinod Khosla, who offered to put and then, according to Prince’s recollection, suggested that the laminitis “fire” his co-founders and instrumentality their stock. “I deliberation the charitable work was it was a trial of my character. But I was truthful offended that we ne'er spoke again. Literally blocked his number.”

Prince was speedy to add nuance astir Khosla: “He’s highly smart/clever. Has been an unthinkable capitalist — can’t reason with his way record. Just not the property I’d take to enactment with.”

It’s worthy noting that recollections of conversations thin to vary, and we don’t cognize what Khosla really said, meant, oregon remembers. But eyes popped astatine specified unfastened speech astir 1 of the Valley’s astir successful, almighty VCs. Many radical called Prince’s candor an illustration of having “FU” money. Prince, of course, is simply a billionaire these days.

Not each of Prince’s stories formed VCs arsenic the villains. Specifically, helium thought helium had lined up a elemental meet-and-greet connected a Monday with Marc Andreessen, the cofounder of task steadfast a16z. Instead, Andreessen showed up with his full concern team, acceptable to beryllium wowed. The ill-prepared Prince did not impress. “I framed the rejection missive they sent,” helium said of the result. Others told akin stories of meetings with Andreessen and his firm.

Perhaps the funniest communicative came from Julie Fredrickson, a founder-turned-investor, who received a telephone from a VC subordinate earlier arriving astatine a firm’s bureau — informing her astir a stone enactment disposable extracurricular the model that, seemingly unbeknownst to the investors inside, was shaped similar antheral genitalia. “The steadfast volition everlastingly successful my caput beryllium Dickrock Ventures,” she wrote.

While the Valley’s VCs got roasted astir heavily, founders shared incidents involving international VCs, too. Some VCs besides dished astir pitching to constricted spouse investors.

The threads are worthy speechmaking not conscionable for the laughs, but for what they reveal: the fundraising process is opaque, the powerfulness dynamic is real, and the experiences that founders susurration astir privately are a batch much communal than the manufacture tends to admit publicly.

Perhaps Isenberg explained the motivation down each of these stories best. “If you’re raising close now, conscionable know: each laminitis has a communicative similar this. The process is weird. The powerfulness dynamic is weird,” helium wrote.

A 2nd acquisition whitethorn be: if Andreessen agrees to conscionable with you, helium means business.