Original link: Cardinal sins of crypto VCs
Original author: Mike Silagadze, founder of Ether fi
Original translation: Grapefruit, ChainCatcher
Today, Ether.Fi founder Mike Silagadze posted a post on social media: Crypto VC Chaos Encountered in Seed Rounds and Series A Rounds. ChainCatcher compiled it as follows:
1. See the strange circle many times
You meet with a partner or associate and the meeting goes well, but they schedule another meeting with another partner, and in the next meeting, that partner has no idea who you are, hasn’t received the briefing, and hasn’t read the notes, so you have another first meeting. If this happens three or more times, that’s even more “exciting.”
2. Sudden change of mind
A partner reaches out to you, hearing that you are raising money, and asks for a meeting. But at the meeting, the partner doesn’t show up, and sends a colleague instead. This is even more “interesting” if it happens multiple times.
3. Anonymous
You get introduced to a VC, they seem interested, and you schedule a meeting, but the VC is anonymous on video and uses a fucking Wassie pfp.
Love seeing anonymous investors on the shareholder list, I’ve heard these are the saner and most helpful.
4. Disappear without a trace
It’s weird that you have multiple meetings with VCs and they ask lots of follow-up questions: more data, financials, and roadmaps, but suddenly, nothing happens.
5. The “Options” Game
You spend two weeks meeting with a fund, answering questions and doing due diligence, and then you don’t hear anything for a while and you think you’ve been left hanging.
Suddenly, you received another message: How is the financing progress? Lets make another phone call. After the call, there was no news again.
This situation repeated several times, did it disappear? No, it was just testing a free option.
6. Bragging
A call with one partner lasted 30 minutes, 25 of which was spent listening to him talk about himself.
7. Other people’s “wedding dress”
One fund agreed to meet with them and discussed strategy, technology stack and analysis in depth. Then there was no follow-up, as if it disappeared.
A week later, they announce an investment round in your competitor.
You have been used and become someone elses wedding dress!
8. Mental Disorder
Just 30 seconds into the meeting you’re convinced this VC is doping, and things start to deteriorate as they become more and more aggressive and counter your every word.
At the end of the meeting, they also say, “Let me know how I can help.”
9. Going off topic
The partner knows nothing about what you are building. The entire meeting is spent trying to convince you to build a completely different business. If they actually convince you, that’s a plus.
10. Pseudo-wise
You’re on the phone with a 22-year-old assistant whose experience is limited to a 3-month internship at Goldman Sachs and losing his winnings gambling on meme coins. He’s spouting off advice in the meeting.
