Conversation

Replying to

25) For instance, give them a super long lockup--do they _really_ believe in you long term? Or grill them, and make them sell you on yourself. Or watch what they say publicly, and see what they push. Do they push random crap? Or do you agree with what they promote?

1

7

140

26) The Fifth VC might seem lame. All VCs promise their network, but the Fourth also gives lots of money! If the Fifth VC really believes in you, though, they’ll give the _most_ money, because they think it’ll be worth it. And networks are great _if_ they’re really utilized.

1

2

106

27) People have limited bandwidth, and don’t care about random crap they hear. But if someone you trust says that this is the one project to watch--you listen. We’ve gotten surprising amounts of value from team #5. It pops up where you least expect it.

1

2

122

28) “Oh yeah, we onboarded because XX said you guys were cool.” “I spent 12 hours reading your ideas because YY vouched for them, and now I’m convinced.” A Fifth VC can get you a foot in the door. It’s up to you to maximize that.

1

2

115

29) And to be clear, there’s a _huge_ difference between someone who says nice things about you, and someone who really goes to bat. Finally there’s the Sixth VC, a variant on the Fifth. They’re similar except instead of giving their influence they give their advice.

1

1

113

30) The Sixth VC is great for newer entrepreneurs. There are a lot of fuckups everyone makes (I certainly did!). Pointing those out is huge. And so is noticing when you’re about to make a large error in strategic direction and telling you.

2

1

115

31) On the other hand, the Third VC does this too, because Important Smart people have advice! Telling apart a Sixth VC from a Third VC can be hard, but it’s really important.

3

1

126

32) Anyway, as a recap: ask not what a VC can do for you, or what you can do for a VC. Ask whether it really is very positive sum.

1

5

105

33) And, in some sense, trust your gut. I’ve sometimes felt dread dealing with a VC. In retrospect, that was almost always a good sign to run away. And I’ve sometimes been really impressed, and felt great. Lean into that.

1

2

94

34) There are some Fifth VCs I’ve run into. Many of them are partners of SRM: projectserum.com. Some I wouldn’t have expected to be. But you can tell when someone really genuinely believes in you: their thoughts and arguments flow freely and powerfully.

3

1

86

35) There’s a parallel with community members. Those of you in the FTX community and chats can attest to how much impact Burg, and Dante, and Adebayo have had; way more impact than a random guy with 100k Twitter followers.

4:37 AM · Aug 6, 2020Twitter Web App

Replying to

36) That’s the kind of partner you want: someone who sees what you see, and believes in you, and will fight for you. And yeah, it doesn’t hurt if they’ll also write you a big check.

1

4

77

37) Don’t fall for the classic VC pitch: we will grace you with our investment of $10, and you will give us 40% of your equity, because we are VCs, and you are a Company, and that is how we dance with each other. Find the partners you want.

1

2

88

38) And if you need funding, sure, raise from whoever! There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you do actually need the funds, and are raising the amount you need.

1

62

39) So, TL;DR: 1) if you need funding, raise 2) if you don't like a VC, don't raise from them 3) if you really click with a VC, they migth fight for you, and that's awesome

5

3

111

40) And a huge thanks to

, Libertus,

,

@genesisblockhk

,

,

,

,

,

, and everyone else who has fought for us. And to those unnamed who have worked behind the scenes to help get us to where we are.

18

25

254

Replying to

and

Burg is awesome👌🏼

2

6

@SmartContracter

Replying to

and

Very true re

and the rest, they've been nothing but helpful to ke

1