It’s Complicated: advice for new VCs on the relationship between associates and founders

by Joey Kim

This post first appeared on Venture to Venture, the personal blog of Romulus associate Joey Kim.

One of the first people who introduced me to the world of VC, John Cowgill(who is a ridiculously generous person) and I shared a convo on a rather touchy subject:

The complicated relationship between founders and associates in VC. You can read about why some founders believe associates are not worth talking to for one reason or another while others in the industry have come out fairly strongly against that sentiment to the point where some have even reversed their initial stance on it or responded with some brutal sass.

I’m not the one to lecture founders on what they should or should not do. But the more I think about someone in my position as a VC associate…

I think we need to get something clear here about getting “rejected” or “passed” by startups. Founders get rejected. Founders get passed. Every goddamn time. They knock on doors, hit the telephone, pump out cold emails. And they get it right in their face.

I remember doing due diligence in the auto shop space. The startup we were considering built their customer base by going around knocking on doors of auto shops, trying to sign them up for their software product. I called a few shops to just to understand the basics of the space.

Every one of the shop owners told me to piss off. They thought I was selling “cash advances.” When I explained I just wanted to see what they did for their livelihood, they shut the door in my face. And I was asking for their thoughts. I couldn’t imagine what the startup had to go through when they started asking for money from these shop owners.

In VC, we live an incredible life. We live on an eternal vacation compared to founders. 6-figure salary, incredible variety of learning, minimal financial downside. Founders give themselves salaries of $30k in SF; they bang their head against the same problem day in and out; they put down their entire livelihood on the line — something that we haven’t done. This isn’t a kissass ode to the founders. This is just an honest side-by-side comparison.

Out of sheer integrity, we should be busting our asses off in VC to be in the same room as these founders. How else can we look the founders in the eyes at the pitch meeting? How else can we muster up the audacity to tell someone who’s been knocking on doors, pouring their life savings, and being rejected every day that what they are working on is “just not investable?”

To belong at that table, we need to bring the table stakes. We need to hustle, sacrifice, and play the sport before we even think about empathizing with our customers. So next time a founder gives us the cold shoulder, take a page from their book, dust off your shoulder, and keep on keeping on.