Cliche of the Week
I may change the title of this running series to VC Phrase of the Week since not all of them are cliches in the classic sense. And this week's is certainly not a cliche, but its something I heard a number of years ago and have found myself saying a lot over the years since then.
The origin of this saying isn't clear, but was attributed to Bill Kaiser of Greylock when I heard it first.
It's about a VC's "radar" and it goes like this:
When I first hear of a company I ignore it, when I hear about them a second time I write the name down, when I hear about them a third time, I get them in for a meeting.
I am sure I've bastardized this quote and I honestly don't know if it originated with Bill, but it does describe one important way we track companies. VCs all have areas they focus on, in our case its applied technology services. We all have ways we get a flow of information about new companies, technologies, and people working in our target sectors. And we need a way to determine what is "noise" and what is "signal".
There are a host of techniques we use. Our network of trusted relationships is the single best filter we have.
But when we hear about a new company from three different trusted sources, in particular if it happens within a short period of time, its bound to get our attention.
So if you want to get on a VC's radar screen, figure out how to get people, particularly people that are trusted in VC networks, talking about you and your company.
January 4, 2006 09:48 AM, By Fred Wilson
Tags: dealflow
Comments (2)
This post is so true..... We have been running our site for a few years and no one in the VC world noticed us, then all of a sudden someone whispered in a VC's ear and now we are putting together a Executive Summary for them..... What started as a hobby is now getting attention not because we were searching for attention, simply because someone whispered in someone's ear. although I think this was only the first whisper.
Posted by Stanley E. Roberts , January 11, 2006 12:15 AM
omnidrive...
everywhere i go i hear nik's name...
(not that im in anywhichway affiliated.. other than coming from the same great country as omnidrive, australia and he's a gun.)
:D
Posted by Ben Barren , January 7, 2006 01:14 AM