{"id":2412,"date":"2014-07-18T12:41:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T16:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/?p=2412"},"modified":"2014-07-18T12:46:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-18T16:46:39","slug":"17-red-flags-that-keep-you-from-vc-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/17-red-flags-that-keep-you-from-vc-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"17 Red Flags That Keep You From VC Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Larry Chiang<\/div>\n
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I read “Both Sides of the Table”. I watched the YC videos of Fred Wilson and David Lee speaking. Here is what they won’t tell you Re red flags<\/div>\n
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-1- First name at Startup dot com<\/div>\n
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A red flag is solo email for each founder. The red flag it signals is, “We just registered our URL”<\/div>\n
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Solution: Larry@duck9.com<\/a><\/a> (my spam catch-all<\/div>\n
Full name LarryChiang<\/div>\n
Secret email Chiang9.<\/div>\n
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Well, at least you have a URL…<\/div>\n
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-2- Splash page<\/div>\n
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It raises a red flag if you do not have at least a splash page.<\/div>\n
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In ENGR 145, we teach that you should have 3 sites within one site under one URL. It conjures up momentum where previously there was nothing.<\/div>\n
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-3- Run, it’s a google voice number.<\/div>\n
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-4- Negative momentum.<\/div>\n
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No founder comes to the pitch without previous work. A red flag is when a VC can find zero work that you have previously done<\/div>\n
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For example, GitHub and StackOverflow. For example, a slideshare account with at least one preso that is in your name.  <\/div>\n
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And I’m not talking about just a pitch deck.  It’s a red flag if VCs see negative momentum.<\/div>\n
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-5- Compartmentalized failure.<\/div>\n
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Nothing says I’m a dabbler and a nibbler more than trying to compartmentalize failure. The entire site is “problems@creditcard.org<\/a><\/a> or manager@complaints.com<\/a><\/a>“. VCs are fine with previous failure but they do not tolerate “alligator arms”<\/div>\n
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What are alligator arms? A scardie cat non-founder who doesn’t put themselves out on-the-line and attempt to execute. Startups do not get “discovered”…, this leads to my next point<\/div>\n
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-6- Half-assed Kickstarter.<\/div>\n
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Yikes.<\/div>\n
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You know what I’m talking about<\/div>\n
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If you do not know about the Kickstarter Minimum Viable Effort, leave this blog post immediately.<\/div>\n
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-7- Red Flag: “If we don’t get funding, we can’t even execute a lunch”<\/div>\n
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-8- Red-flagged Eventbrite RSVPs.<\/div>\n
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The email address screams amateur. For example, Eventbrite has logins. It’s a clear part of your identity. Eventbrite was critical at SXSW. <\/div>\n
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Name, real last name, title, email address alias <\/div>\n
It’s a red flag if you’re not detail oriented enough to RSVP semi correctly.<\/div>\n
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Eventbrite either makes you stand out as a findable fundable founder or makes you look like a pariah. Eventbrite is critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nLarry Chiang (@LarryChiang<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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7\/18\/14, 8:45 AM<\/a><\/div>\n
17 Red Flags That Keep You From VC Funding<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Download 9 More VC RED FLAGS by PayPal-ING me $72.72 to the above email addresses. Alternatively, tug on my coattail and send the PayPal money to my cell: 650-283-8008<\/div>\n

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See how fundable a 9 year old is because he can cut verbal deals<\/div>\n
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Oh, the $72.72 isn’t a purchase. It’s a rebatable event in the pattern if LCRRM. You should google “$55,005.09” for an example of LCRRM <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Larry Chiang I read “Both Sides of the Table”. I watched the YC videos of Fred Wilson and David Lee speaking. Here is what they won’t tell you Re red flags -1- First name at Startup dot com A red flag is solo email for each founder. The red flag it signals is, “We […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}