如何正確地吸引風(fēng)投：絕對(duì)不能說的五句話
Mark Achler
2017-04-11
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“企業(yè)家內(nèi)幕”是美國的一個(gè)在線社區(qū)，美國創(chuàng)業(yè)界最睿智和最有影響力的大咖會(huì)在這里及時(shí)回答與創(chuàng)業(yè)和職業(yè)有關(guān)的問題。今天為大家分享的是美國西北大學(xué)凱洛格管理學(xué)院講師、MATH Venture Partners公司執(zhí)行董事馬克?阿克勒在“有什么話是絕對(duì)不能對(duì)潛在投資人說的？”這一問題下的回答。 作為一名風(fēng)投資本家，我每天都要與兩到三位創(chuàng)業(yè)者見面，他們之所以找到我，無非是希望我能他們投資，圓他們的創(chuàng)業(yè)夢(mèng)想。（去年我們?cè)u(píng)估了2000多家新公司。）我在三家基金公司干了20年的風(fēng)投，見識(shí)過各種你能想象到的創(chuàng)投洽談。哪些話是堅(jiān)決不能對(duì)風(fēng)投資本家說的？我給你舉五個(gè)例子： “我有一個(gè)大客戶，馬上就要談成功了?！?/strong> 我的合伙人特洛伊?漢尼科夫很愛講這個(gè)故事。1999年，他成為一家名叫SurePayroll公司的CEO。SurePayroll是當(dāng)時(shí)第一批做在線薪酬管理的公司之一。特洛伊找到我的時(shí)候，我已經(jīng)做好了投資的準(zhǔn)備了。這時(shí)他對(duì)我說了一句幾乎致命的話：“我們已經(jīng)快簽下富國銀行作為第一個(gè)大客戶了，對(duì)我們來說，這是一件改變游戲規(guī)則的大事?！?/p> 我對(duì)項(xiàng)目的興趣提高了，但我的回答給他潑了一盆冷水：“那很好，我感到更激動(dòng)了。等你把富國的合同簽下來，我就給你一份投資合約。”其實(shí)就算沒有富國銀行這碼事，當(dāng)時(shí)我可能也會(huì)給他的公司投資，但現(xiàn)在這筆投資的成敗完全系于富國銀行這個(gè)大客戶能不能談下。好在這兩筆合同最終都談攏了，這家公司最終也有了一個(gè)成功的結(jié)局。但這個(gè)故事給了我們一個(gè)顯而易見的教訓(xùn)：一定要避免過度承諾和過度推銷，只要對(duì)方說了“yes”，你就可以打住了。 “哪怕我們暫時(shí)達(dá)不到承諾的目標(biāo)也沒關(guān)系，以后總能解決?！?/strong> 如果風(fēng)投決定給一家創(chuàng)業(yè)公司投資，那么雙方的關(guān)系往往會(huì)維持七八年甚至十多年。對(duì)我們來說，誠信和相同的價(jià)值觀代表了一切。我們會(huì)一直保持高度警惕，不斷詢問一些試探性的問題，確保我們和投資對(duì)象有一致的價(jià)值取向。誠信重于一切，信任壓倒一切。如果我們不信任你，就不會(huì)給你投資。所以任何可能導(dǎo)致我們質(zhì)疑誠信度的話，比如“哪怕我們暫時(shí)達(dá)不到承諾的目標(biāo)也沒關(guān)系”之類的，無論你說得含蓄還是直白，基本上都會(huì)使投資意向流產(chǎn)。 “你們的投資意向是什么？” 如果風(fēng)投家愿意抽出時(shí)間跟你談投資，對(duì)創(chuàng)業(yè)者來說，這幾乎是最重要的一次會(huì)談了。如果創(chuàng)業(yè)者沒有做好充分準(zhǔn)備倉促上陣，無疑是一個(gè)重大的失誤。通過與創(chuàng)業(yè)者的初次會(huì)面，我們能看出創(chuàng)業(yè)者在接觸潛在客戶時(shí)是什么樣的工作狀態(tài)和努力程度。如果投資者跟我們會(huì)面時(shí)沒有做好充分的準(zhǔn)備，甚至沒有抽時(shí)間看看我們的網(wǎng)站，了解我們到底是干什么的，我們的投資意向是什么，我們的投資熱點(diǎn)是什么，那是肯定沒戲的。 “我只想讓它快點(diǎn)成長(zhǎng)，然后迅速脫手?！?/strong> 這聽起來似乎有些矛盾，因?yàn)轱L(fēng)投做的生意就是為一些特定的投資人賺錢。然而我們青睞的投資人應(yīng)該有更強(qiáng)的企圖心和使命感，對(duì)自己的事業(yè)有堅(jiān)定的信念，相信只要自己沉下身子去打造一家優(yōu)秀的公司，美好的事情最終會(huì)發(fā)生。換言之，我們信賴的是那種把客戶、員工和股東利益放在首位的服務(wù)型領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。誠然，我們也想投資那種想賺很多錢的創(chuàng)業(yè)人，但我們更青睞的是踏踏實(shí)實(shí)的創(chuàng)業(yè)者——在穩(wěn)固的基石上打造卓越企業(yè)的人。 “你錯(cuò)了。” 這種“王之蔑視”大概是對(duì)潛在投資者傷害最大的一句話了。我記得在90年代末的時(shí)候，有幾個(gè)創(chuàng)業(yè)者曾拿著一些還未得到證實(shí)的理念找到我，一本正經(jīng)地盯著我，開口就要2500萬美元的估值，哪怕他的公司還沒有任何收入——因?yàn)樗褪恰笆袌?chǎng)”。我當(dāng)然拒絕了。結(jié)果對(duì)方說道：“你就是一個(gè)傻X風(fēng)投，根本不懂互聯(lián)網(wǎng)……” 當(dāng)然，風(fēng)投看走眼的案例也有不少。有些前沿甚至超前的東西的確很難讓人立即買單，更何況很多風(fēng)投都非常忌諱風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。問題是：針對(duì)短期或長(zhǎng)期目標(biāo)，你對(duì)創(chuàng)業(yè)理念進(jìn)行了優(yōu)化調(diào)整嗎？這個(gè)世界說小也小，山不轉(zhuǎn)水轉(zhuǎn)，你永遠(yuǎn)不知道什么時(shí)候還會(huì)碰到這個(gè)風(fēng)投。所以你要盡力培養(yǎng)而不是終結(jié)你與風(fēng)投的關(guān)系。雖然我們可能暫時(shí)不理解你的理念，但很可能我們最終會(huì)理解，而且我們還能跟你分享一些歷盡艱辛才得來的智慧——前提是你有開放的心態(tài)去傾聽和學(xué)習(xí)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)） 譯者：樸成奎 |
The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question, “What’s the worst thing you can say to a potential investor?” is written by Mark Achler, lecturer at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and managing director of MATMark AchlerH Venture Partners. As a venture capitalist, I meet every day with two or three entrepreneurs who pitch me to invest in their dreams. (Last year, we reviewed more than 2,000 new companies.) Having done this now for 20 years across three funds, I’ve heard every kind of pitch imaginable. Here are five examples of what not to say to a VC: “I have a big potential customer that is just about to close.” My partner Troy Henikoff loves to tell this story. In 1999, he was the CEO of a startup called SurePayroll, one of the very first online payroll providers. As Troy pitched me, I was ready to commit. Then he said the almost fatal words: “We are close to signing up Wells Fargo (wfc, +0.71%) as our first white-labeled customer. It’s a game changer for us.” My interest only heightened, though my response was chilling to him: “That’s fantastic; I’m even more excited. I’ll give you a term sheet when the Wells Fargo deal is signed.” Troy had boxed himself into a corner: He had sold past “yes.” While I probably would have done the deal without Wells Fargo, the investment now hinged on this big customer. The good news is both deals closed, and eventually the company went on to a very successful exit. But the lesson is simple: Avoid over-promising and don’t oversell—stop when you hear “yes.” “It’s okay if we don’t deliver what we promise—we can always fix it later.” When a VC invests in a startup, this is often the start of a relationship spanning seven to 10 years, and sometimes longer. To us, integrity and shared values are everything. We are constantly on the lookout and ask probing questions to make sure we are on the same page around shared values. Integrity is everything and trust is paramount. If we don’t trust you, we’re not going to invest. Any statement that casts doubt on your integrity—some version (implicit or explicit) of, “It’s okay if we don’t deliver on what we promise”—will almost certainly kill a deal. What’s your investment thesis?” Getting time with a VC to talk about investing is one of the most important meetings an entrepreneur can have. Going in unprepared is a huge mistake—in fact, we view it as a proxy for the level of work, effort, and due diligence the entrepreneur will do when they meet with potential new customers. It’s an almost immediate deal killer for us if the entrepreneur comes into a meeting unprepared and didn’t take the time to look at our website to understand who we are, what our investment thesis is, and what our hot buttons are. “I just want to grow it fast and then flip it quickly.” This may sound paradoxical since we are in the business of making money for our limited investors, but we are looking to invest in entrepreneurs who have a deeper sense of purpose, mission, and the rock-solid belief that if you put your head down and build a great company, then eventually good things will come. We believe in the servant leader who puts the needs of their customers, employees, and shareholders first. Yes, we want to invest in entrepreneurs who are motivated by making a lot of money, but who want to do it the old-fashioned way: by earning it—building a great company on a solid foundation. “You’re wrong.” This is my all-time favorite dis an entrepreneur can say to a potential investor. I remember back in the late ‘90s when entrepreneurs would pitch me an unproven concept and look me in the eye with a straight face and ask for a $25 million valuation without any revenue—because that was “market.” And when I said no, I heard, “Oh you’re just a dumb VC and don’t understand the Internet…” There are many famous cases where the investor is actually wrong. Doing something cutting edge and visionary is truly hard to sell, and many investors are risk avoiders—not risk takers. That said, the question is: Are you optimizing for the short term or the long term? It’s a small world out there. You never know when you might interact with the potential investor again, whether later in your company cycle or for your next venture. You should be nurturing relationships, not ending them. While it’s true that we may just not get it, it’s more likely that we do, and that we can share some hard-fought wisdom with you—provided you are open to hearing it and learning together. |
