

Tattoos and Y Combinator Demo Day - dwynings
http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/blog/2012/4/2/tattoos-and-ycombinator-demo-day.html

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paul
Feels like a strawman to me.

There are certainly people who do investments based on a quick meeting (e.g.
Andy Bechtolsheim's Google investment), but most people will have follow up
meetings before actually committing to an investment.

That said, we select startups based on 10 minute meetings, and that works
remarkable well.

Also, criticizing entrepreneurs for pitching at demo day just seems mean.

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dbul
_This is why I probably won't go to another YC Demo Day--on the off chance I
get invited back._

Why say this? This post is fine explaining the preference to get to know
entrepreneurs well and the apparent mistake entrepreneurs are making by
approaching investors whom don't know the entrepreneur at all. But it seems to
me that Demo Day is just another opportunity to hear an angle on a product as
well as getting to know the entrepreneurs behind it.

And why was he having a conversation with Christina from USV if he wants to
get to know entrepreneurs better? Then, why let the entrepreneur finish? Put
on the Tom Hagen face and tell him "Now, wait just a minute" and start
grilling the entrepreneur with questions to get to know him better. Maybe
there is something I'm missing about why as an investor you wouldn't play this
to your advantage. (As for the point about learning whether the investor is an
asshole, this is Y Combinator: don't be an asshole or it is unlikely you'll
have the opportunity to invest again.)

The investor is usually the veteran, the entrepreneur is usually the freshman.
School him. That's the duty of the veterans in the game.

~~~
ceonyc
I did get to meet a lot of entrepreneurs there... but I knew her, so I said
hello.

I let the entrepreneur finish b/c I didn't want to interrupt and it was only
two min anyway.

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webwright
This seems like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Why would you not go
to a demo day with some of the best signal-to-noise ratio on the planet?

I haven't been to a YC demo day in a while, but I assume that many/most
companies don't close their whole rounds in 24h. Why not just say, "I liked
your pitch-- I'd love to sit down with you guys for an hour or two tomorrow to
talk thru it a bit." and then go on to describe how you like to add value/be
involved.

It's possible that all of them aren't looking for hands-on-guidance from their
earliest investors... But perhaps some of them are.

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ph0rque
_I spent a ton of time trying to get to know entrepreneurs early--even before
their ideas are fully formed or before they have their decks. That's where I
think I'm going to have the best outcomes and where I'll be able to be the
most useful investor--where everyone knows why they're in, what they're there
for, and we can all thoughtfully get on the same page about the vision we're
trying to move toward._

Great! I'm one of those entrepreneurs, but I am an unknown. Before I get into
YC (assuming that happens), how do I get in touch with you, Mr. Investor?

~~~
jcampbell1
Try the link labeled "Meet with me" on the blog.

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ph0rque
Believe me, I tried (not with this particular investor, but another one). If
you're a nobody, no investor wants to talk to you. YC, and other similar
programs, move you from the "nobody" group to a "somebody" group; but then you
need demo days to efficiently introduce entrepreneurs to investors, and vice
versa.

~~~
ceonyc
"If you're a nobody, no investor wants to talk to you."

Well, sure if you go in with the pitch that you are, in fact, a nobody, then
I'd certainly be less interested. Who wants to talk to someone who isn't
confident that what they're doing with their time is awesome? Tell me why
you're awesome... and if you're in and around NYC, I'd be happy to make some
time.

~~~
ph0rque
Maybe I just haven't learned the proper bluster when talking to investors... I
really believe my idea is awesome, that I and my co-founders have solid
skills, and that our startup will succeed with or without investors (but will
succeed faster with funding). I feel anything else is BS that investors
especially will see through, or am I missing something?

Alas, I am in the Triangle area of NC, but I'd be happy to chat via skype!

~~~
dudeguy999
Investors need to hear the BS. You should be pitching a billion-dollar idea,
even if that's phase 3 of your plan.

Also, NC is sadly outside the seed stage bubble. If you have traction, you may
get a meeting, but then you won't need it.

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kyasui
As someone pretty involved/familiar with tattoo culture, getting a flash piece
off the wall is pretty common and accepted.

I mean obviously you don't walk into Tribal Overlord Tattoo on the strip in
Orlando Florida (doesn't exist) and pick a biomechanical alien off the wall,
but you would walk into say Smith St. Tattoo in Brooklyn (does exist) and pick
something off the wall.

~~~
daeken
As someone also involved/familiar with the tattoo culture, I'd say that
"accepted" is taking it a bit far, and that "tolerated" is closer to the mark.
Most tattoo artists I know produce flash because they know it pays the bills,
not because they really like people using it. I don't know any tattoo artist
that won't jump at the opportunity to create something new and unique.

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k33n
You got a barbed wire wrap around tattoo after 1994? Ouch.

~~~
jcdreads
<http://xkcd.com/933/>

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jcampbell1
If I think about the best investments in startups ever, I think about Andy
Bechtolsheim's investment in Google. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes then
a check was cut. Peter Theil invested in Facebook after a 1 hour meeting.

Maybe some investors and founders want to date for a bit, but the biggest
winners in history got in bed together without even dancing.

~~~
hef19898
I'm not sure if these two aren't just outliers. The investors were pretty well
known after all and had a lot of experience.

I think that closing a deal too fast can be as bad as dicussing it too long.
Either you get a fast decission or not, brickering around to much about
unecessary details is IMHO a sure sign that it takes too long. Not being asked
any questions and just being thrown money for being part of a YC batch is, on
the other hand, a sure sign it doesn't take long enough.

