Why We Don’t Say “No” To Entrepreneurs

By Joe Raczka, Managing Partner at York IE

Since our launch we’ve been fortunate enough to receive inbound interest from hundreds of entrepreneurs. As Adam mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the startups we’re being introduced to are better than we could have imagined. Though we pride ourselves on our work ethic, we can’t work with everyone at the same time. As a result, we often have to turn away interested entrepreneurs. But please know, we are not saying “no.”

There are a lot of reasons why we might not be able to invest capital with an entrepreneur at any given moment.

• Our thesis is that we want to invest in companies that we can add value too. Adding value takes time.
• Sometimes we truly believe in the entrepreneur and the startup but the timing is not right for us (from a time or capital allocation perspective).
• Sometimes we really like the entrepreneur but think the idea needs further maturing.
• Sometimes we meet too late and a round is already full or we think the idea is great but just too far ahead of the market.

No matter the reason the end goal is always the same: we want to continue the relationship. We believe that we’re investing in entrepreneurs just as much as we’re investing in a startup (after all, we’re a startup too!). I love investing in people. Yes, sometimes that takes the form of dollars. But there are many ways to invest in someone’s future success that goes beyond money.

It is also why we’re fanatical about the educational content we produce. It’s why we’re always on social media. It’s why we go to meet-ups, pitch competitions, conferences and work with the NH Tech Alliance. We always want to stay in touch and we’re always following the careers and trajectory of the entrepreneurs who reach out, even if we can’t invest capital at this moment.

Human beings are amazing. They grow, they evolve, they constantly get better. We want to help as many as we can even though we have limited capital. Circumstances change, which is why we always want to keep our lines of communication open. And oftentimes as we have seen, once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. If not this startup, how about the next one?

If you’re an entrepreneur, follow us on Twitter: @yorkgrowth. Engage with us! Ask us questions! We’ll respond.

If you’re an entrepreneur, share your journey with us. Send us a blog about your experience or any challenges you face. We’ll read it and, if we think it can help others, we’ll publish it on our blog so your struggles can inform other entrepreneurs and your successes can inspire them.

Whether or not we can invest at this moment, we want all entrepreneurs to succeed. We’re rooting for you!