Comments on: How Not To Impress People

By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:38:17 +0000

The rude caller probably never considered that if you did invest he’d be working with you on a frequent basis- and why would you burden yourself with a business owner you couldn’t stand working with?
I guess this goes to the point that VCs invest in people as much as (or more than) ideas.

By: Dan Pingree

Dan Pingree — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:05:27 +0000

Brad-you were nicer than I would have been! That is a very bizarre story.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:16:54 +0000

Hey…thanks for evoking memories of being a VC. I used to take these random phone calls (I also LIKED reading randomly forwarded business plans). Every once in a while, you’d find have a really great and engaging conversation with a thoughtful entrepreneur (David Wadler of Twistage comes to mind, for example). Unfortunately, most folks seemed so hyped up that it was hard for them to listen (“No. We don’t fund movies, even if they ARE about the Internet.”) Keep answering the phone, though. Everyone benefits from THAT attitude.

By: Vicky

Vicky — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:49:18 +0000

I’m sure with that sort of attitude he will never receive any investment.

Best was your last line & thats extracting real value :
‘Instead

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:30:58 +0000

@Robert – happy to try to be helpful. Just drop me an email at brad@feld.com

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:23:21 +0000

@Ajay – I vastly prefer email (and there are direct email links all over this blog.) I try to respond to all emails, although I’m sure I miss a few every now and then.

By: Berislav Lopac

Berislav Lopac — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:59:18 +0000

Actually, I know a guy who is exactly like this; I would actually be certain that it was him except that it’s very slim chance that he was able to get your number from halfway across the globe.

By: GilbertZ

GilbertZ — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:49:41 +0000

Actually you can probably get two blog posts out of it by adding that after you mistakenly posted how friendly you are to people who cold call you, a ton of other people found your number and you had to change it so you could get some work done. Heheh.

By: Chris Kerns

Chris Kerns — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:47:26 +0000

That is so unbelievable….that is has to be true. People never cease to amaze me.

Funny story, though. I have a feeling you’ll end up going back to it often to illustrate a point. Heck, I’ll probably even use it to illustrate a point.

Chris

By: Ben Smith

Ben Smith — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:31:02 +0000

brad

you have given me a whole new way to look at irritating, obnoxious or frustrating behavior. I can now just remind myself they are actually doing me a favor by giving me a blog post.