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by cookiecaper 5122 days ago
Most people should not be told just to give up completely. I'm not sure why the OP wants to focus on "you just don't have what it takes to run a company" instead of "your presentation skills were lacking, rehearse more", or something like that. For many entrepreneurs, the offense is not in "x needs improvement", but "We believe you are too stupid to improve on x". Even if you believe that, why not just say "x needs improvement" and then wait to see if they really are too stupid to improve on x or not? Why does everything the VC thinks, including have to be shared?

There is nothing productive about "you're incapable, just give up" or "you're incapable, go deal with someone who gives people less money first and see if that gives you some capability". These are all deflections of the real problem. Why not try "We were concerned that you appeared nervous when asked how your site would handle potential copyright issues" instead of "you just can't do it"?
2 comments
redthrowaway 5121 days ago
>There is nothing productive about "you're incapable, just give up"

I disagree. For some people, hard as it is to take, this is exactly the right advice. Some people simply aren't cut out for what they're trying to do, and changing tack sooner rather than later is the optimal course of action. Any advice which precipitates that decision is therefore good advice, no matter how hurtful it might be to receive.

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cookiecaper 5121 days ago
Some people may need to put in a lot of work at something to become competent, but I don't believe that wholesale just some people can never succeed at something as generic as entrepreneurship unless there is a physical or mental disability or some really exceptional background involved. Most normal people really can become successful entrepreneurs if they try hard enough.

As the OP said, just saying, "You'll never make it, just give up" is very unlikely to yield positive results. So even if you think the founder really will never make it, why is that an important criticism to share? They may surprise you if you actually provide helpful criticism on action points where real progress can occur. "Stop being you" is, of course, not actionable.

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sopooneo 5121 days ago
If you actually are capable, and someone says otherwise, you will ignore them.
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