A.B.C.

I was having breakfast with a prominent VC a while back and happened to mention that my two partners had done some work for another startup that had gone belly up. “You’ll need a letter from your attorney stating that there are no issues with the code,” he said sternly, adding, “When you meet a girl at a bar, you don’t tell her right away that you snore. You charm her and win her over and then maybe in a few weeks she discovers that you snore. But by then she’s able to overlook it.” I couldn’t dispute the truth of what he was saying but was taken aback at the vehemence of his response. I protested that I hadn’t told any other VC’s about this and had only brought it up because I thought we were just having a friendly conversation.

Wrong! There are no “off the record” conversations between startup entrepreneurs and VC’s.  You’re pitching all the time—like it or not. My mistake was forgetting his motivation for being there. He wasn’t there to give advice, he was looking for the next Twitter. I was still working on my presentation and was hoping for feedback so I’d have a better pitch when things got serious. But that was wasting his time. What I failed to realize was that the opportunity to have breakfast with him was a non-recurring opportunity. It was my one and only chance to pitch him and get him interested. A friend likens it to having only one bullet. If it goes astray you don’t get a second chance.

My problem? Pitching too early. It’s a common mistake. I was too eager to get out and bless the world with all of our wonderful products–which unfortunately were still in the concept stage.

Two lessons here. Don’t start pitching until you’re ready. Brainstorm for weeks with your partners, nail down that business plan, finish the prototype. THEN work on your pitch. Define what problem you’re solving and for what segment of the population. Rehearse it. Memorize your responses to every objection you can think of. “Why would anyone want to limit their message to 140 characters when they can write what they want on Facebook?” (Somebody must have had a pretty damn good answer to that one.)

Entrepreneurs are, by nature, idea people. We’re collaborative, we’re, well, ok, we’re dreamers. Why else would you decide to go through the agony of starting a business from scratch? VC’s are deal people. That’s an entirely different mindset. Much has been written about this. And it’s all true. Don’t treat potential investors as sounding boards. Of course they’ll have opinions about your business but they expect you to have done your homework and be 100% convincing about your idea. And don’t drop your guard after a couple of drinks or at an informal setting.

Once you decide you’re ready to start pitching, practice the A.B.C. rule. Always be closing.