Relationships matter in business and how you treat people will redound to you in time for good or for bad. There would be no good reason normally for Mr. Blank not to refer good prospects to a particular world-class VC firm with which he had dealt except for this bad experience with one of its representatives. And I don't blame him. It is a classic case of reaping what you sow - the big-name partner for his condescending ways and the junior guy for his arrogance.
It works the other way too. People can and do remember kindnesses and gracious acts from those who do them out of sincerity because they care about the people involved, even in a business context. It is just such acts that inspire the best of relationships that can last for decades.
Indeed, although it's more than just a "bad experience".
It says something fundimental about the VC, his attitudes towards the people he funds, e.g. how much he respects them, which is not very much.
Note the very important detail that this was a (very?) successful startup. Now imagine being a founder in one funded by this VC during a bad period (something much more likely outside of the dot.com bubble in which this happened).
You don't want to be there and Mr. Blank's anti-reference will help those who listen to him.
That is why it is good to never act condescending or disrespectful towards anyone. That kid that you made fun of during the interview for not knowing some obscure feature from C could be buying your company in 10 years and you could end up working for him.
This is even more true in a relatively niche markets with a limited number of companies. Eventually everyones ends up knowing everyone, perhaps by meeting at trade shows or just word of mouth, and reputation and networking becomes very important.
The same goodwill goes for customers as well. Our company is loved because we go out of our way to please the customer. Even the customers that are fussy, mean and ignorant. We work weekends and evening on site to get them up and they always put in a good word for us. Aside from having a good product that is the only reason we've been around for 17+ years.
> That kid that you made fun of during the interview for not knowing some obscure feature from C could be buying your company in 10 years and you could end up working for him.
That actually more or less happened to me, my former boss worked for me for a bit. Great guy by the way, so it wasn't that he made fun of me, and as a boss he was pretty good too. I hope I was just as good a boss to him as he was for me.
The reverse also happened to me, a former employee struck it big and I did some contract work for him.
It really is a much smaller world than most people think and if you burn your bridges behind you or are nasty to people it will definitely come back to you. It may take a while, but it always does.
If you give a man respect he will give you his loyalty. I can't imagine wanting to make those investors tons of cash if they thought of the founders as disposable.
Comments
Relationships matter in business and how you treat people will redound to you in time for good or for bad. There would be no good reason normally for Mr. Blank not to refer good prospects to a particular world-class VC firm with which he had dealt except for this bad experience with one of its representatives. And I don't blame him. It is a classic case of reaping what you sow - the big-name partner for his condescending ways and the junior guy for his arrogance.
It works the other way too. People can and do remember kindnesses and gracious acts from those who do them out of sincerity because they care about the people involved, even in a business context. It is just such acts that inspire the best of relationships that can last for decades.
Indeed, although it's more than just a "bad experience".
It says something fundimental about the VC, his attitudes towards the people he funds, e.g. how much he respects them, which is not very much.
Note the very important detail that this was a (very?) successful startup. Now imagine being a founder in one funded by this VC during a bad period (something much more likely outside of the dot.com bubble in which this happened).
You don't want to be there and Mr. Blank's anti-reference will help those who listen to him.
People can and do remember kindnesses and gracious acts from those who do them out of sincerity
Some people just don't realise how many doors this opens.
That is why it is good to never act condescending or disrespectful towards anyone. That kid that you made fun of during the interview for not knowing some obscure feature from C could be buying your company in 10 years and you could end up working for him.
This is even more true in a relatively niche markets with a limited number of companies. Eventually everyones ends up knowing everyone, perhaps by meeting at trade shows or just word of mouth, and reputation and networking becomes very important.
The same goodwill goes for customers as well. Our company is loved because we go out of our way to please the customer. Even the customers that are fussy, mean and ignorant. We work weekends and evening on site to get them up and they always put in a good word for us. Aside from having a good product that is the only reason we've been around for 17+ years.
> That kid that you made fun of during the interview for not knowing some obscure feature from C could be buying your company in 10 years and you could end up working for him.
That actually more or less happened to me, my former boss worked for me for a bit. Great guy by the way, so it wasn't that he made fun of me, and as a boss he was pretty good too. I hope I was just as good a boss to him as he was for me.
The reverse also happened to me, a former employee struck it big and I did some contract work for him.
It really is a much smaller world than most people think and if you burn your bridges behind you or are nasty to people it will definitely come back to you. It may take a while, but it always does.
If you give a man respect he will give you his loyalty. I can't imagine wanting to make those investors tons of cash if they thought of the founders as disposable.
While it's not his purpose, Mr. Blank is doing what he can to to keep this VC from making "tons of cash" by steering entrepreneurs away from the him.