Ask HN: Why do some VCs make it so hard to pitch to them?

adwn · 2024-05-26T12:57:47 1716728267

Addendum:

Is it because they want to throttle the number of pitches they get? That would work, but wouldn't it also filter out the best and most promising startups, which will easily find a more approachable VC, and leave only the more desperate founders?

bell-cot · 2024-05-26T12:34:18 1716726858

"Don't call us, we'll call you."

Economists, techno-utopians, and some VC's may talk big about how VC's provide an essential service in our late-stage capitalist economy - but that does not mean that VC's are a public service, under some sort of obligation to answer the phone and listen to whoever wants their attention.

adwn · 2024-05-26T12:55:01 1716728101

> that does not mean that VC's are a public service, under some sort of obligation to answer the phone and listen to whoever wants their attention.

That's not what I'm saying at all. My point is that they need pitches: without pitches, they can't invest in startups, and without investments in startups, they will have a hard time raising capital for their next fund.

bell-cot · 2024-05-26T13:27:43 1716730063

Well, yes. If they are currently funding new ventures - it doesn't take any "ran out of money" scenario for them to (say) decide that investing more in their existing portfolio is currently a better strategy than adding new ventures.

And certainly they're free to source their pitches via closed networks of "the right people". I'd guess that that does not involve Linkedin - but only "the right people" actually know, and I'm not part of that social set.

adwn · 2024-05-26T14:08:57 1716732537

Thank you, that makes sense.