
What I Wish I Had Known Before Pitching LinkedIn to VCs (2013) - marvel_boy
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20131015161834-1213-what-i-wish-i-knew-before-pitching-linkedin-to-vcs?_mSplash=1&trk=mp-reader-card
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elbasti
Most of his points on creating a pitch deck are _true_ in the limited sense
that they help create a better story, but they are all ultimately second-order
optimizations.

Unfortunately, in early-stage startups you see the pitching equivalent of
"teaching to the test"\--crafting pitch decks that are pitch-perfect but the
underlying business is no business at all.

This has the particularly nefarious consequence that most of the feedback such
a "pitch perfect" deck receives is stellar--except, of course, from the people
who you really need money from.

The best pitch deck advice remains: 1\. Build a company such that you don't
_need_ money. 2\. Make it obvious that more money will help you annihilate the
competition. 3\. Don't pitch unless you think your audience would have to be
insane not to invest.

Pitching (2) before (1) is a recipe for failure.

~~~
w1ntermute
Well, if you look at the notes on Reid's site[0], he says

> 1\. we weren’t the natural leader of a market or technology trend that
> everyone was paying attention to,

> 2\. we didn’t have substantial organic growth, and

> 3\. we had no revenue.

It sounds like LinkedIn really did need that money. Reid was still able to
raise a B round from Greylock probably because he was a known quantity from
his PayPal days, and because Sequoia led the A round. The bigger lesson here
is that much of the advice given by prominent Silicon Valley investors and
entrepreneurs often doesn't apply to the rest of us, because we're not in the
positions of privilege that they are.

If I were a repeat entrepreneur with a moderately successful exit, a current
exec at AmaGooFaceSoft, or participating in YC, I would devour all the advice
these people are offering. Otherwise, it's useless. Forget about an actual
pitch, you're probably not even going to get a 5 minute phone call with a
partner at Greylock. Why would you expend any time or energy on preparing in
advance for such an unlikely event? You're much better off spending your time
figuring out how to generate and grow revenue and profit (what running a
business is actually about).

0: [http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-
greylock/](http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/)

~~~
danieltillett
Yes there are two paths for founders looking to raise VC money - a path open
to insiders and the path open to outsiders. If you are an outsider don’t try
raise money using an insider model.

The only time you want to be raising money is when you don’t need it.

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gist
Meanwhile linkedin, at least from my perspective and use (I am not a recruiter
nor am I someone who is looking for a job) has totally lost it's way. It's not
the same it was back when it started which was a genuine way to connect with
someone that you knew or someone that you wanted to know. The connection spam
is unbelievable a connection means literally nothing. I don't know how much of
this has to do with Reid having his hand in so many other pots but it's ironic
given this particular post.

~~~
lukasm
It has little value for me as well. Growing spam is annoying and networks are
diluted. I think they lost when they closed the API.

> Every product attempts to expand until it has API. Those products which
> cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can

~~~
enahs-sf
That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Turning your back to
the developer ecosystem is always a mistake as Twitter has also had to learn
the hard way.

------
firloop
Better link on Reid's website: [http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-
greylock/](http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/)

------
Kiro
What does investment thesis mean in this case?

~~~
natrius
As the world changes, strategies for making money change. Uber isn't an
individual attractive business, it's an exemplar of how putting internet-
connected sensors in every pocket allows new and improved marketplaces to be
created, and marketplaces have proven network effects that lead to profit.
When startups claimed to be "Uber for X," this is the investment thesis they
were shortening.

