Conversations with Venture Capitalists
Over the past year of interacting with people in the startup ecosystem, one type of conversation that has stood out is conversations with venture capitalists. These conversations has always left me perplexed and enchanted.
Venture capital operates in the realm of wild ambition so these discussions always fuel you to dream bigger. It’s strange but also fascinating to talk about numbers in million dollars so casually — like I even know the exact number of zeroes when converted to INR. Sometimes, I find them superficial, too, because the inherent hands-off approach of investing in companies overlooks the actual difficulty of execution. But that’s the nature of their business. You can’t be wildly optimistic and also worry about execution details in the same conversation. After all, you are in search for outliers.
A satirical version of the conversation would go like this -
VC: I noticed that you started working out! Want to understand what you envision for yourself in 5 years?
Person: Oh yes! I started going to gym thrice a week this year, I have started a push-pull-leg routine last month and have seen good results. I am not sure of the very long term, but, yes, I would like to get abs in 3 years
VC: Makes sense, we backed a person who started off like you, and got to 6 pack abs by year 2. Now that guy does calisthenics and runs ultramarathon
Person: Oh cool! What do you think I should do to get there?
VC: I suggest trying for more intense workouts definitely would lead you there faster. Tracking your macros is a must from day 1. You can definitely move to a place that has a better gym.
Person: Makes sense.
VC: Have you thought about how external help can expedite your growth? Are you looking for one?
Person: No I haven’t but do enlighten me how it can help
VC: Sure! We can provide you with some money, which you can use to move to a city with more gym goers. We will get you a trainer who has worked with athletes. With that money, you can get a subscription to supplements.
Person: Hmm
VC: What kind of pushups can you do now?
Person: I do 10 at the moment, daily.
VC: Yeah, so another dude we backend went from doing 20 pushups a day to 100 pushups a day in a year and to 500 pushups a day in his third year. He came from a different background but I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to reach that with our help
Person: Something sounds wrong here but I really can't point it out.
Narrator: The devil was in the details.