Sparring with VCs & Associates to sharpen your skills.
I get at least a half dozen calls from VCs a week and I love talking with them since they a) have a lot of great information, b) ask good questions, and c) can put you in touch with great people.
Having a VC call you and throw questions at you is like getting a free sparring partner for 20 minutes. makes you a better fighter. So, I take the calls any chance I get just to keep in shape.
One trend I’ve been noticing is associates calling asking really silly questions, and not even knowing that I’ve known the VCs they work with for five or ten years! In one case I was in the VCs office a couple of days before the associate called me (we’re not raising VC money, it was just a catch up visit)!
Here is what two recent call were like (I put the two into one):
Associate: “What’s your revenue strategy?”
Me: “Advertising.”
Associate: “So how do you make money?”
Me: “Selling advertising.”
Associate: “How do you defend yourself against someone coming in and doing what you’re doing?”
Me: “Work harder.”
Associate: “Well, that’s it? I mean anyone can create a bunch of blogs and sell advertising against them.”
Me: “Can they?”
Associate: “Sure, and then there will be no margin and your business will go away. I mean, how do you deal with margin pressure?”
Me: “How does Nobu deal with margin pressure?”
