How I Learned To Not Hate VCs and Get Them To Respond — Some Practical Insights
By: Amit Garg
Tags: VC, Entrepreneur, Startup, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

If you are building a startup you are fighting the odds juggling hiring, product-building, marketing, selling, support, just to name a few. And on top of that you find the VCs, including existing investors, are being unresponsive.

VCs get typically hundreds of messages every week juggling requests, sourcing, diligence, coinvestment, board meetings, among others. On average, entrepreneurs are most definitely busier than VCs, the challenge for investors is they are spread across too many threads.

So what to do? There is obviously a healthy range of styles and techniques that work when asking and receiving favors. And there are obviously huge cultural and individual differences in both professional and personal communication. This article doesn’t pretend to cover the whole truth but is focused on illuminating some practical insights for entrepreneurs, based on hundreds of startup interactions I have had over the years.

1) Follow Ups With Flair

You sent an email but didn’t hear back at all, the silence could be (i) lack of interest, (ii) the email got buried, or (iii) the VC is waiting for something to respond. How do differentiate between these three possibilities? If you just surface the message with the explicit goal of reminding, then it can also look like you are (a) too eager, (b) too pushy or © simply not giving enough credit to the other party. So consider the following alternatives:

Ask the VC if a particular time frame to follow up would be best, or simply ask what would be the best way to engage.

Add to the thread saying something along the lines of hi, I am also copying your admin or associate.

Do the same by adding instead a colleague from your own side.

Send a meaningful update on the subject you are talking.

Send a relevant article.

Point is to add a new piece of information rather than simply reminding of a task, it will often lead to a richer conversation.

2) Leaving Room to Maneuver actually Increases the Chance of a Yes

If you are trying to get a favor from a VC you don’t know well, the time-tested method is to go through someone else they know well. But here are other factors to consider:

Acknowledge that you are asking for a favor, people are people and even a simple affirmation of gratitude goes a long way.

End your message giving them the option of not engaging, something along the lines that if they are too busy to respond, you hope they can talk in a near future. Giving agency increases the chances of the VC to respond to you. It also means that a non-response still leaves you an option to pick up the same conversation in the future.

Switch channels if needed — recognize when it’s better to suggest or proactively use another medium.Sometimes just picking up the phone is easier than juggling schedules endlessly to set up a time.

3) The Medium Matters

We have so many ways of reaching people these days and they are evolving constantly, which makes social norms around them really fluid. Here is a rough attempt:

Text message is optimized for quick follow ups, often when you are engrossed in regular communication.

Email is for delayed communication, especially if it involves information rather than conversation.

Phone is for a nuanced conversation. If you read your email and wonder if it will be interpreted correctly, pick up the phone.

This may be obvious and yet happens commonly enough so merits a mention. There are very very few situations when you should start a dialogue with someone across multiple channels, for instance pinging on work email, LinkedIn, Facebook at the same time. Same goes for multiple accounts in the same channel, for instance sending to more than one address when you already know their primary email. It’s pretty much if you legitimately have an urgent request or based on a previous interaction you know it will be okay with the VC.

4) Rinse and Reciprocate

Many entrepreneurs will say most VCs are neutral at best and only a small number genuinely helpful. The perception is mostly true since even the most experienced VCs can engage meaningfully with just a handful of companies. In Silicon Valley at least the average has been 7 to 9 companies and if you are not part of that group then you are not in the first priority for that VC. But if you are, here are some things to strengthen your relationship further:

Offer to introduce them to other entrepreneurs. Offers are typically better than direct intros because it gives the VC a chance to accept and frame the conversation better.

Same to be said for connecting to other VCs, who could be coinvestors with them.

Endorse them — this could be with their partners, in an article, on LinkedIn, with other entrepreneurs, to name a few.

Get them access to conferences and speaking opportunities.

Help them with diligence on other companies they are considering.

What are some other ways you have found best to communicate with VCs?

The title and picture (from Wikipedia Commons) of this post is inspired by the movie “Dr Strangelove,” which in many ways is about the perils of communication. These are purposely short articles focused on practical insights (I call it gl;dr — good length; did read). I would be stoked if they get people interested enough in a topic to explore in further depth. I work for Samsung’s innovation unit called NEXT, focused on early-stage venture investments in software and services in deep tech, and all opinions expressed here are my own.