The One Thing I Dislike Most About Being A VC

Brett Munster

I love my job. I get to work with extraordinary entrepreneurs, play with new technologies and learn everyday. I am constantly challenged and as difficult as that can be sometimes, I truly enjoy it. I know I am very fortunate; yet, there is one part of this job that I do not enjoy, and that is saying “no” to entrepreneurs.

Investors see hundreds of startup companies every year. We might only invest in a dozen or so of those companies, which means I have to say no hundreds of times. And here’s the thing, there are a lot of good ideas and companies out there that I will say no to. Sometimes the company’s stage does not fit our strategy. Other times the company may not be in an area in which we have a lot of expertise. There are a whole host of reasons why I will have to say no to a company. Even worse, there are a lot of good people out there that I will have to say no to. Believe me, I wish I could say yes more often but that is not how this business works.

I know it is harder for entrepreneur to hear no then for me to say it. I know they put everything they have into this endeavor, I have been there and I remember how it feels. Because of that I know I must be respectful when turning an entrepreneur down. This means following up when I said I would. It means trying to get to “no” quickly, so that I do not lead on entrepreneurs and waste their time. I also try to be transparent as possible and offer some insight as to what was discussed and why we made the decision we did. My goal is never to bash the entrepreneur, rather, when I was in their shoes I wanted to know why so that I could learn. I hope I can provide, in some small way, an opportunity for the entrepreneur to be better prepared to cover our objections the next time they speak with an investor.

Saying no is not easy because I know just how much it sucks to hear it. I don’t like being the cause of a good entrepreneur’s disappointment. Though I understand how important saying no is in this business, it is the one part of my job I wish I could change.