The Beginner VC’s Guide to Not Being a Jerk

I’ve been a VC for 8 years. But long before I was an investor, I was a founder. I’ve pitched hundreds of VCs over the years and, to this day, I can tell you how I was treated by each and every one of them. Because founders never forget.

Now that I’m on the other side of the table, I try my best to treat founders how I would like to be treated. I’m certainly not perfect, but I’m trying.

The process of fundraising is stressful enough — and that’s before adding power dynamics and egos into the mix — so anything we can do to remove barriers and eliminate avoidable slights is good for everyone.

Here are 5 tips for new VCs on how not to be a jerk:

How Do I Reach These Kids?

1. Don’t Use Possessive Adjectives

“My companies do X…”

“When we work with our companies…”

It’s a subtle signal, but a telling one.

I’ve never met a investor who was previously a founder who uses possessive adjectives to describe portfolio companies. Not one.

Because possessive adjectives imply ownership. And while a VC might own a portion of a company, they don’t own the company. So you’d better believe that founders take notice when investors use possessive adjectives.

2. Don’t Multitask When a Founder is Pitching

If someone is pitching you their life’s work, have the decency to pay attention to them.

You may think you’re being sneaky checking email or writing a slack message while you’re talking over zoom, but the person on the other side of the call can clearly see your eyes darting back and forth. They can tell.

Same thing for panels, AMAs and any other founder engagements. If you signed up for it, put on your big girl / big boy pants and show up. Don’t glance at your phone. Don’t jump back-and-forth between monitors. Focus on the founders who are focused on you.

I still remember the VC who, during an in-person pitch, pulled out his phone while I was talking and started sending a text message. Like, what-the-actual-f*ck? (He certainly doesn’t remember…given how frequently he hits me up for deal flow these days 🤦).

3. Don’t Badmouth Founders

Let’s call this the VC equivalent of “locker room talk”. Their are certain investors (and, in fact, entire firms) who believe it’s appropriate to dunk on founders that they’ve met.

On the one hand, I get it — there are objectively many founders who are unlikely to succeed. But they’re putting it on the line and giving it a try. You’ve got to respect that. So when I hear a VC badmouth founders, it makes my blood boil (all the more so when those investors have never started anything themselves). And every other founder-turned-investor I know feels the same way.

So while you might think you’re engaging in locker room talk amongst friends, you’re likely losing credibility with a significant portion of the investors in the room (even if you don’t realize it).

That’s why at Panache, there is a very clear, unmistakeable rule that no one at the firm is allowed to badmouth a founder. Ever.

You can critique a pitch. You can criticize a business. But you can never, ever badmouth a founder.

A great anecdote courtesy of Hunter Walk

4. Don’t Mansplain

I know that this is hard for some people.

Especially men.

And especially men in VC. But you don’t actually have to be the “smartest person in the room” every time.

Especially if your entire resume is investment banking and management consulting.

5. Don’t Ghost Founders

As much as this behavior is widely tolerated, there is no legitimate reason to ghost founders.

So while you may have been led to believe that ghosting founders is a way of keeping your options open, not responding to a founder’s repeated emails after meeting with them actually leaves them with a very clear perception of you. A bad one.

So even if it’s a ridiculously generic pass email with no meaningful details whatsoever, you’ll end up with a better reputation amongst founders if by simply closing the loop.

None of this should be hard. There’s no rocket science here. Just common sense and decency.

(And founders, if you come across any of these behaviors, know that it’s not okay. You deserve better.)