Ask HN: Hey VCs, do you mind if ppl intro themselves when you're out at a bar?

[wimpycofounder]

Went to a talk by a VC who is very active in my area. Didn't get a chance to introduce myself after the talk (there were < 25 ppl at the talk but the VC had to run). A few hours later, was out for drinks with a friend and saw he was at the same bar but talking with someone else.<p>Discussion ensued with my buddies around whether or not I should intro myself considering I didn't have a chance earlier in the day, but I ultimately decided against it. What say you: Should I have? I ask for the next time I'm in this situation.

[fredwilson]

this was a really good question @wimpy

i turned my answer into a blog post

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/12/should-you-introduce-yoursel...

[wimpycofounder]

Wow thanks for the clarification, Fred. Awesome to get some perspective from someone who deals with this day in and day out!

[willvarfar]

Curious tangent:

What's better, to introduce yourself to a VC or to be introduced to a VC by a gushing shared acquaintance?

(If being introduced, then this leads to the strategy of introducing yourself to those who mingle with the VCs, rather than directly to the VCs themselves...)

[ig1]

Shared acquaintance, no question.

[chris_dcosta]

Well actually I disagree, but I know exactly where your coming from.

The thing is that we imagine that VCs get approached all the time by people with alot more balls than us. We also imagine that they hate a direct approach from a stranger and would much prefer you to be introduced through their network. We all know that's what networks are for right?

The point is we imagine this. We project how we might feel in their shoes, but the real truth is we can never know for sure how they will react. It's their job after all to find the talent!

I remember having the exact same conversation with musicians years ago about approaching the A&R guy. When I did get the balls to do it, you know what, he didn't sign me, BUT he didn't ignore me either, and we had a great conversation and I invited him to a few gigs.

How much time would I have wasted looking for an intermediary, when all he wanted was to "discover" the next big thing. Isn't that what VCs want too?

[ig1]

Ask any VC you know how many un-referred startups they've ever funded in their entire lifetime.

(or just read the quora question on it http://www.quora.com/Venture-Capital-Firms/Have-any-top-tier... )

VCs get pitched all the time they can't afford to give unsolicited pitches more than a tiny fraction of their time for evaluation as 90% of them will be terrible. But if a pitch comes with a recommendation from someone they trust, it's much less likely to be a bad pitch so they can spend a bit more time looking at it.

Getting an introduction to a VC isn't hard, it's trivial to meet startup founders at events, etc. and most would be willing to introduce you to their VC if they thought you had a good idea.

If you're not capable of getting a warm introduction fairly easily, then that's a huge negative signal for the VC about your capabilities.

[chris_dcosta]

I know what the general advice is, but not doing what people tell you to do is pretty much what we encourage people to do.

I see no difference between encouraging people to bend and break the rules to create an innovative start-up, and bending and breaking the rules to attract a VC. It's all part of the same mentality.

But if that isn't a good enough argument, then try the maths: the probability of success is 50-50 on every try.

[willvarfar]

I imagine so too.

So instead of debating whether to approach the VC alone, the tactic would be to start by glancing around for a shared acquaintance who you will then idly innocently ask if VC is indeed VC and so on until engineering a favourable introduction...

Not that I'm fond of slimy social networking myself, of course