what do VCs think?

4 points by ubudesign ↗ HN
When I started developing my site I never thought about needing any capital. Sure I needed private servers but I managed that. And yes if I had money I wouldn't have a day job but that actually may have helped. its weird but if you are under pressure you become really productive. so after the first year I managed to develop something decent and by next year have paying customers. Then few month ago I got an email from a vc saying that they are interested etc and setup a phone meeting. I had not much of an idea of what vc's do and what they want. Also I had never approached them before. So the only thing I though was to talk about my product and give a demo and explain some of the detail. instead the conversation became something else and very short. I guess they had though we were a large company or something and basically explained that they invest some millions of dollars and in companies with a revenue of about 100,000 per qt or more.

So what's the point? if I had 100,000/qt why would I need investment? All I need is more servers and do more marketing and bring few more people to join.

Also why is a vc interested in investing millions in say similar companies like ours that have a terrible product but perhaps have more users because they are marketing etc., when they can invest in a better product?

The only explanation I can think of is that people feel good about something when they pay more for it. And another explaination is that they just don't get it. I mean if google had gone to a vc before they became google would they be able to see? Another explaination is that they just want to wait until they are realy sure or something...

3 comments

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ROTFLMAO Hey, some VCs actually do think and some do not. Many play follow the leader and make large profits by doing so. A good thinking VC could help you with capital and connections and advice, if you needed those things. VCs always want to get some measure of control over your business and that often leads to problems. if your business is a service provided to individuals or companies, there is less potential for large upside growth than if you are developing a stand alone business that generates it's own brand and revenue.