Asking mission capitalists for funding is a ceremony of passage for tech founders. This has resulted in every other common revel in: the VC pitching horror tale. A large dialog sharing such tales has taken position all week on X with the feedback each humorous and infuriating. We learn via all of them to search out essentially the most fascinating ones so that you don’t need to.
Greg Isenberg, a startup podcaster, publication author, and founding father of Overdue Checkout Studio — a maintaining corporate whose earlier ventures come with an organization got through WeWork — were given the dialog began with a tale a couple of VC falling asleep all over a pitch assembly. Isenberg has a big following on X, and his publish obviously struck a nerve.
“I used to be as soon as pitching in a board room at a most sensible 3 VC company for a $15M Sequence A. 12 other folks within the assembly. One of the vital GPs absolutely fell asleep. Out chilly for 30+ mins. No person stated it. Everybody simply saved going,” he shared on X.
VCs sound asleep via pitch conferences was once a long way and away the commonest horror tale shared. Now not simply slumbering, however complete on zonked.
Zynga founder Mark Pincus informed his VC-asleep tale. “I checked out my good friend who arrange the assembly and requested if i must stay presenting and he or she mentioned sure. It was once ‘weekend at bernies’ meets Silicon Valley,” he wrote.
Curiously, falling asleep didn’t imply the VC wouldn’t make investments. A couple of founders reported receiving time period sheets from companions who’d dozed off all over the pitch.
“I as soon as pitched a partnership in 2015 for our Sequence A the place one spouse (well-known Midas lister) fell asleep & every other couldn’t forestall scowling. Were given a choice 2 hrs after the IC that they had been sending a time period sheet over,” wrote Liz Wessel. Wessel, who co-founded and bought HR startup WayUp and is now a spouse at First Spherical Capital, mentioned her group didn’t take the cash — and that the VC was once surprised.
There have been such a lot of tales about VCs sound asleep that former a16z spouse Arianna Simpson wrote, “Are VCs adequate?? Narcolepsy seems to be operating rampant.”
There have been, after all, quite a lot of tales about VCs signing time period sheets then pulling out closing minute, or ghosting, by no means wiring the cash. The much more galling phase? A few of these VCs it seems that went on to regard the founders like portfolio firms anyway, inquiring for corporate updates or to function a reference. One founder mentioned the VC even sought after a proportion of the post-acquisition proceeds.
Travis Kalanick, the Uber co-founder famend for his resolution, informed a tale about finding {that a} VC was once making an attempt to ghost the assembly and depart the development. Kalanick mentioned he adopted the VC to his automotive and pitched from the passenger’s seat.
Now not everybody had dangerous reviews to file. Some founders mentioned they’ve by no means had the rest however nice reviews with VCs, with a couple of even sharing love tales about particular traders. Sure, maximum VCs are hardworking, truly you need to be useful, and don’t take naps all over conferences. However deficient reviews are so not unusual that Pincus exclaimed, “I f*cking love this second, when founders now not need to be afraid to name out VCs for dumb conduct.”
Essentially the most surprising tales
Nonetheless, the tales that really shocked had been those posted through Cloudflare founder Matthew Prince. “A Sequoia spouse handed on Cloudflare as a result of he didn’t suppose a lady may just lead a safety infrastructure corporate,” Prince wrote. The lady in query is Cloudflare’s co-founder and COO Michelle Zatlyn. For the reason that Cloudflare is now an $87 billion marketplace cap corporate, with anticipated annual income of $2.8 billion in 2026, the judgment hasn’t elderly neatly.
Sequoia spouse, Shaun Maguire, no stranger to controversy over his remarks himself, responded that he’s at all times admired Zatlyn, and requested Prince to spill the identify of the spouse who mentioned that. Prince punted, “Perhaps over a drink in the future. However I guess you may have a just right wager already.”
However wait, Prince dished extra!
He informed a tale about distinguished investor Vinod Khosla, who presented to speculate after which, in line with Prince’s recollection, prompt that the founder “fireplace” his co-founders and take their inventory. “I believe the charitable learn was once it was once a check of my persona. However I used to be so indignant that we by no means spoke once more. Actually blocked his quantity.”
Prince was once fast so as to add nuance about Khosla: “He’s highly intelligent/artful. Has been an unbelievable investor — can’t argue together with his monitor file. Simply now not the persona I’d make a selection to paintings with.”
It’s value noting that memories of conversations have a tendency to change, and we don’t know what Khosla in fact mentioned, supposed, or recalls. However eyes popped at such open speak about one of the crucial Valley’s maximum a success, tough VCs. Many of us referred to as Prince’s candor an instance of getting “FU” cash. Prince, after all, is a billionaire in this day and age.
Now not all of Prince’s tales forged VCs because the villains. In particular, he idea he had coated up a easy meet-and-greet on a Monday with Marc Andreessen, the cofounder a raffle company a16z. As a substitute, Andreessen confirmed up together with his complete funding group, in a position to be wowed. The ill-prepared Prince didn’t galvanize. “I framed the rejection letter they despatched,” he mentioned of the end result. Others informed an identical tales of conferences with Andreessen and his company.
Most likely the funniest tale got here from Julie Fredrickson, a founder-turned-investor, who won a choice from a VC affiliate prior to arriving at a company’s workplace — caution her a couple of rock formation visual outdoor the window that, it seems that unbeknownst to the traders within, was once formed like male genitalia. “The company will eternally in my thoughts be Dickrock Ventures,” she wrote.
Whilst the Valley’s VCs were given roasted maximum closely, founders shared incidents involving world VCs, too. Some VCs additionally dished about pitching to restricted spouse traders.
The threads are value studying now not only for the laughs, however for what they disclose: the fundraising procedure is opaque, the ability dynamic is actual, and the reviews that founders whisper about privately are much more not unusual than the business has a tendency to recognize publicly.
Most likely Isenberg defined the ethical in the back of all of those tales very best. “In case you’re elevating presently, simply know: each founder has a tale like this. The method is bizarre. The facility dynamic is bizarre,” he wrote.
A 2d lesson is also: if Andreessen concurs to satisfy with you, he manner trade.
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