Getting ghosted is never fun. Especially if you’re a founder seeking capital from investors.
It’s similar to dating. You might be left wondering “Why is this person not getting back to me? Did I do something wrong?” Did the investor hate the product? Did they not care for me personally?” It’s enough to drive anyone crazy.
Ghosting is an undeniable signal of a lack of interest. If a VC wanted to invest, they would definitely respond to your cold call, or get back to you after the pitch.
There are a variety of reasons why a VC might vanish after a founder thought they would agree to a meeting, or worse, after one, according to several VCs who talked to TechCrunch.
Time
Time is people’s scarcest resource, Mercedes Bent, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners wrote in a LinkedIn post on the topic of VC ghosting that went viral. VCs naturally are going to spend more of it on the founders and startups in which they see potential.
“Writing a thoughtful rejection takes effort, and when a pass won’t ‘convert’ [to an investment], it often gets deprioritized. Not saying this is good,” she wrote in her LinkedIn post.
Bent also notes that the investing environment has shifted over the past decade so that VCs are having to make decisions faster and thus, have less time to get back to prospects.
“VC has ballooned at breakneck speed – more firms, more capital, more pitches,” she wrote. “With more focus on volume and speed, there is little room for the intentionality and personal touch that once defined the industry.”
Such rapid growth has created a churn-and-burn culture where relationships feel increasingly transactional, she added.
Better Tomorrow Ventures co-founder and general partner Sheel Mohnot says things most often slip through the cracks when he’s “super swamped.”
“This is never about the founder and always about what else I have going on in life — like if we are fundraising, or it’s the week of founder camp, our AGM, Money 2020, etc.,” he told TechCrunch.
Eric Bahn, co-founder and general partner of Hustle Fund, relies on an automated email response to help him manage the influx of inbound deal opportunities he receives in his inbox. He estimates that he receives about 30 inbound pitches per day.
“I have a permanent out of office email message set up that will reply back to every message with instructions on how the founders can engage with our investment team via our website form,” he told TechCrunch. “Our team takes every submission seriously, but I just can’t respond to every email solicitation any longer, as much as I’d like to.”
Now, if he has already taken a meeting with a founder, Bahn claims he will “never ghost” them.
“When I have to pass on a deal, I will explain why I am passing and share some feedback,” he said. “This is a simple etiquette that I wish more VCs would do more consistently as well.”
Red flags that will lead to rejection
Ironically, one investor who wished to not be named cited frustration with AI-generated founder cold outreach, telling TechCrunch: “It’s so much that it’s drowning out all the genuine outreach. I can tell it’s AI-generated because I get dozens with the same structure, but different words and there are always some weird inaccuracies. It’s just going to burn all written outreach as a channel to reach new people.”
So, while VCs may love to back AI startups these days, many of which write emails, they don’t want to be on the receiving end of them.
“Eventually, we will just filter out any email from an unknown sender because it’s likely an AI-generated message,” she added. “So to meet someone new, you’ll literally need to run into them socially (warm intro or in person). Back to the stone ages!”
One thing that really annoys Bahn is a lack of self-awareness. Don’t try to claim that your startup has no competitors or faces no existential risks, for example.
Bahn typically asks founders during a pitch what could kill their businesses. A shocking number of founders will respond: nothing.
“Anyone with simple self-awareness knows that absolutely is not true,” he said. “So many things can threaten their business: competitors outperforming; markets facing new compliance or regulation; a new pandemic.”
As a potential investor, Bahn wants to know that you not only see the risks, but have plans to mitigate them. “As the legendary CEO, Andy Grove of Intel, once said: only the paranoid survive,” he said.
Mohnot says if a founder can’t explain how they’ll grow their business beyond an initial concept, he takes note. But the reverse is also true: Unrealistic expectations is a red flag, noting he’s turned off by founders who claim their startup will “immediately disrupt an entire industry” or are projecting “wildly optimistic financial projections without solid evidence.”
Other things that he finds to be a turnoff: visible tension or lack of complementary skills among founding team members, suggesting potential collaboration issues; lack of technical depth or an overemphasis on fundraising as opposed to “building a sustainable, valuable business.”
Rex Salisbury, founder and general partner of Cambrian Ventures and former partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), wants to see that a founder is on top of things. He views a pitch deck with a date in the file name that is six months old as a red flag. Misrepresenting numbers, however, will get you cut off from Salisbury altogether.
Founder behavior
There are other behaviors that will end your conversations with VCs. For Bahn, if a founder says something racist or sexist, they’re cut off.
“A founder actually once called a competing founder the c-word in front of me,” he shared. “I have no tolerance to spend the next decade working with someone that has such little respect for other people.”
Founders should also keep in mind that even if an investor rejects them now, they might consider working with them later. So being disrespectful when getting turned down will likely kill any chance of that, and could also cause the VC to never talk to a founder again.
Bahn says sometimes his firm provided detailed feedback on a rejection and then that founder would “turn around and call you names and/or even threaten you.” He notices this happens more to his female colleagues than to himself.
“I’m grateful when those moments happen because it means we made the right choice to not choose to work with that founder,” Bahn told TechCrunch.
“That person is also blacklisted — we will not respond to that person ever again, and the interaction will be recorded in our internal database, so that our institution can avoid them forever,” Bahn adds.
All of the VCs, naturally, said dishonesty is an instant deal killer. Addie Lerner Katz, founder and managing partner of Avid Ventures, pointed out that dishonesty can take place in a variety of forms, including exaggerations and a lack of transparency.
She’s also turned off when founders speak negatively of current or past investors or colleagues. Negative reference calls are another cause for pause for Lerner Katz.
“Across each of these buckets, we take ‘yellow flags’ very seriously and usually view them as disqualifying,” she told TechCrunch.
Mohnot recalled an incident where a founder lied about a deal with another startup. The other startup happened to be in Mohnot’s portfolio “so a quick text message sorted that one out.”
But lying in general about metrics, team capabilities, market size or technology performance, will often also be easily exposed by the VC.
“It happens more often than you think,” Mohnot said.
All of the VCs still think there’s no true excuse for not sending a simple, “no thank you” follow-up to a founder if they actually had a pitch meeting with a founder. As Bent put it, ghosting happens anyway.
“I’m not saying any of these are good reasons. It’s the reality. It’s the game,” she wrote.
But given the risks of behaving badly to a VC who has stopped talking to you, she also suggests the golden rule applies to both parties. “Treat people how you want to be treated.”
Hello, sobat pengemar slots Pernah mendengar semboyan “raja slot? jika belum, siap-siap jatuh cinta sama konsep ini. raja slot adalah mesin slots yang selalu memberi win. Yup, mesin-mesin ini bisa dikatakan adalah andalannya tuk membawa come back cuan. any way, gimana sih
tekniknya jumpain slot demo yang benar? Tenang Bro, kita beri tenang saja di sini
Game tergacor waktu ini hanya satu di Indonesia hanya di akan memberikan return terbaik
Daftar hanya di:
Informasi mengenai KING SLOT, Segera Daftar Bersama king selot terbaik dan terpercaya no satu di Indonesia. Boleh mendaftar melalui sini king slot serta memberikan hasil kembali yang paling tinggi saat sekarang ini hanyalah KING SLOT atau Raja slot paling gacor, gilak dan gaco saat sekarang di Indonesia melalui program return tinggi di kingselot serta pg king slot
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kdwapp.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jebswagstore.com
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama demoslotgacor.pro
slot demo gacor
slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot gacor
akun demo slot gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo gacor
akun slot demo gacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot pragmatic
akun demo slot pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo pragmatic
akun slot demo pragmatic permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun slot demo
akun slot demo permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
akun demo slot
akun demo slot permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
situs slot terbaru
situs slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
slot terbaru
slot terbaru permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsslotterbaru.net
sewaapartemen permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sewaapartemen.org
pipapvc permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pipapvc.org
pialaeropa2028 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pialaeropa2028.net
pialadunia2026 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pialadunia2026.asia
bahanbangunan permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bahanbangunan.org
gemini999 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gemini999.org
havana888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama havana888.net
indonesia88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama indonesia88.info
inspirasi permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama inspirasi.info
jokiwin88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama jokiwin88.org
oli88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama oli88.org
situs88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situs88.asia
transfermarkt88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama transfermarkt88.com
rossi46 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rossi46.com
pecco88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pecco88.com
pecco permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pecco.asia
pangkas permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pangkas.net
facebook88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama facebook88.com
depo88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama depo88.asia
bajaringan88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bajaringan88.com
baja ringan permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bajaringan.asia
tradingview88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tradingview88.com
trading88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama trading88.org
tokopedia88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tokopedia88.net
kualifikasi permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kualifikasi.net
grosirboneka permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama grosirboneka.net
situsgacor permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama situsgacor.news
prediksi88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama prediksi88.biz
keramat88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama keramat88.biz
cnn88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama cnn88.asia
cnbc88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama cnbc88.com
bloomberg88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama bloomberg88.com
antibocor88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama antibocor88.com
buku88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama buku88.org
dukun88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama dukun88.info
indodax88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama indodax88.net
investing88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama investing88.net
makanan88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama makanan88.net
pakaian88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pakaian88.com
rambo88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama rambo88.info
santet88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama santet88.net
sekolah88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sekolah88.org
uno88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama uno88.info
starlink88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama starlink88.org
solitaire88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama solitaire88.net
roblox88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama roblox88.org
pubg88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pubg88.info
motogp88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama motogp88.net
motivasi88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama motivasi88.com
mobilelegends88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mobilelegends88.com
ludoking permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ludoking.asia
kucing88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kucing88.asia
kucing permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kucing.info
klasmen88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama klasmen88.com
imdb88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama imdb88.net
higgsdomino permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama higgsdomino.biz
gmail88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gmail88.org
gmail88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gmail88.net
chess88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama chess88.info
callofduty88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama callofduty88.com
semen88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama semen88.com
seluler88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama seluler88.com
ram88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ram88.net
pasir88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pasir88.asia
papan88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama papan88.info
komputer88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama komputer88.net
kayu88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kayu88.info
kabel88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama kabel88.net
gaming88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama gaming88.asia
games88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama games88.info
beton88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama beton88.lat
teknis88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama teknis88.com
sarana88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sarana88.info
arena88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama arena88.asia
viral888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama viral888.asia
usdt88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama usdt88.net
uang88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama uang88.asia
twitter88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama twitter88.asia
tahanlama88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama tahanlama88.com
suka88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama suka88.biz
sekali88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama sekali88.org
plafonpvc permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama plafonpvc.net
pinjol88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pinjol88.asia
mpox88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama mpox88.com
daun88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama daun88.asia
wordpress88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama wordpress88.net
whatsapp88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama whatsapp88.net
wechat88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama wechat88.net
telegram88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama telegram88.org
super888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama super888.asia
skype88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama skype88.com
racing88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama racing88.asia
pupuk88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pupuk88.net
petani888 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama petani888.org
pabrik88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama pabrik88.asia
organik88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama organik88.com
online77 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama online77.info
ojek88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama ojek88.info
nostalgia88 permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama nostalgia88.com
michat permainan paling top dan garansi imbal balik hasil besar bersama michat.info
