Founder poll! I had a debate w/another VC last week. My stance: it's better to talk to founders respectfully even if it means holding back harsh but accurate feedback. Other VC's view: people prefer you being direct, even if you come off like a big jerk. What do founders prefer?
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Replying to @lpolovets
This assumes investors cannot be disrespectful and conflict avoidant at the same time?
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Replying to @abrams
I think some know how to do this very well, others have not picked up the skill at all :(. I'm interested in people's opinions on the second type of investor.
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Replying to @lpolovets @abrams
I like direct -- BUT -- the exception is when the negative feedback is about the team.
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Replying to @jbreinlinger @abrams
Same. But I'm wondering if I should take more reputational risk by commenting on team (while also trying to figure out how to deliver the message so that it doesn't create reputational risk).
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Replying to @lpolovets @abrams
This is what happens (in my experience):http://acrowdedspace.com/post/28387488539/vcs-are-liars-and-so-am-i …
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Replying to @jbreinlinger @abrams
Really interesting... thanks for sharing the results of the experiment! This is my concern/fear as well: if you share hard feedback about someone directly, they often get defensive and the relationship dies. Not always, but often.
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Then you’re letting founders self-select for defensiveness, which is very valuable. I would hypothesize that defensiveness is an excellent predictor of failure.
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