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Originally published: 18/10/2017 15:44
Last version published: 09/04/2020 15:39
Publication number: ELQ-34212-2
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How to Get the Attention of a Venture Capitalist

This is some advice on how to grab a VC's attention.

by Guy Kawasaki
Chief evangelist of Canva and part-time podcasterFollow 47

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Other credits: Thanks to Wendy Piersall who made the original post viral!

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fundraisingentrepreneurshipvcventure capitalistattention

Introduction

At the Elite Retreat I gave an off-the-cuff answer to a question concerning getting the attention of venture capitalists. My buddy Wendy Piersall blogged about my answer, and it was a very popular. However, to truly help entrepreneurs, I’d like to provide a cogent list of the tips to get the attention of a venture capitalist.

• Step n°1 |

  Get an introduction by a partner-level lawyer.

  He should work at a firm that does a lot of venture capital financings like my buddies at Montgomery & Hansen. Best case email/voicemail: “This is the most interesting company I’ve seen in my twenty years of legal work for startups.” Venture capitalists dream about calls like this—it’s the equivalent of a scoring shot that knocks the goalie’s water bottle off the top shelf.
  
  
  Incidentally, this part of the reason of why you should pay top dollar and use a well-known corporate finance attorney instead of Uncle Joe the divorce lawyer (even if he handles venture capitalists’ divorces). You’re paying for connections not only expertise.

  

• Step n°2 |

  Get an introduction by a professor of engineering.

  Best case email/voicemail: “These students are the smartest ones I’ve ever had in twenty years of teaching computer science. Larry and Sergei would have carried their backpacks for them.” Arguably this is even better than the lawyer’s call if the school has a history of receiving multi-million dollar donations from its alumni—if you know what I mean.

  

by Guy Kawasaki
Chief evangelist of Canva and part-time podcasterFollow 47

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