Paul GrahamVerified account

It would be better if investors gave no reason when they turned cos down than their usual "it's not you, it's me" reasons.

I've seen so many otherwise smart founders mistakenly try to adjust their companies after bogus rejections from investors.

Next time you hear "It's a crowded market," or "We're concerned about your low margins," just translate them to "No."

Example of a startup in (what was) a crowded market: Google. Example of a startup with low margins: Amazon.

Your advice appears to be based exclusively on survivorship bias. Being in a crowded market does not transform you into Google.

Was that what I meant?

You say "crowded market" is a "bogus rejection" and present Google as evidence; argument is only valid if Goog success was related to market