There is a coffee shop here in Palo Alto called The Prolific Oven. I’ve been sitting here for a quite awhile catching up on email, building spreadsheets and other things for my company before heading to the airport.
So far, I’ve unintentionally managed to overhear not one but 4 pitches to Venture Capitalists. I wasn’t trying. I know it was VC pitches because the ritual of the VC giving the sales pitch was carried out with laser-like efficiency.
The first thing I’ve noticed is there must be some kind of secret handshake whereby no two people working in the same general area show up at the same time. It appears nobody cares if there are 50 people listening to a loud pitch and dialog going back and forth.
The second interesting thing is when some investment person doesn’t want to be in the meeting, they are not shy about showing it. Wow. You are sitting with two people and you pull out your iPhone and start tapping while the entrepreneur is talking and looking directly at you? Really? Wow, that just is 20 for 10 on the rude scale.
4 meetings, total of 15 or so people, with mostly Macs and mostly RIM devices being rudely pulled out of the holsters.
And loud. Yowsa, whatever happened to sitting in a quiet corner?
Theme songs:
“Let me take it back to the team and socialize this opportunity for portfolio synergy.” (No, really!)
“Can I get the business plan and your [] year forecasts?”
“Very interesting, let’s continue the dialog.”
“You’d need to move here and we don’t invest in Maine.”
“Isn’t Google Wave going to do this?” (I almost choked on my tea when this got blurted out.)
And at the 50% level: “No, I don’t sign NDAs.”
I love this place….
hilarious :-)
Posted by: ChrisS | October 15, 2009 at 00:52
I think I would have to punch a VC in the face if he pulled out his phone without a word and started doing that while I was talking.
Posted by: Jacob | October 15, 2009 at 08:13
Fun times, Rick. VCs say the funniest things sometimes, no?
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=689867652 | October 15, 2009 at 16:48
Uh, welcome to Silicon Valley? Lived there for four years - people don't have time for bullshit. They're driven, ambitious, and if things aren't going to work out, they move on. Not the nicest way of behaving, but it does save a lot of time-wasting.
The good news? You get used to it. The bad news? You get used to it.
Posted by: Brendon J. Wilson | October 15, 2009 at 20:45
I should think that Coupa Cafe would be better for this sort of stuff.
Posted by: joshua schachter | October 15, 2009 at 23:09
reminds me of this classic: http://valleywag.gawker.com/219044/mark-suster-of-koral
:-)
Posted by: Zoli Erdos | October 16, 2009 at 17:46
Coincidence I was in the Valley same week, and blocks away from Prolific on Tuesday. Wouldn't have been funny if I saw you there?
I wished there was an Oven's equivalent in Toronto- perhaps Starbucks on King/Yonge is a candidate? I know start-ups hang around there...only if we could get VC's to show-up...
Posted by: twitter.com/wmougayar | October 18, 2009 at 09:48
Nice post.
It is striking that people don't choose to either - do these meetings in a quiet, out of the way, coffee shop without competitors (especially if it has the potential to be a good deal) or keep them deliberately short (I schedule these coffee pitch meetings at 30 minutes) or both. I can stay with anything for 30 minutes and will do so -- no Blackberry or phone, etc.
I think the discipline, attention and time management is our job (meaning the VC).
Posted by: Don Rainey | October 20, 2009 at 10:07