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Insights: The Cryptic VC's Guide to Saying No On Investments

For this morning's Insights and Opinions section, where we feature the contributions of our readers, we have an article from Wiliam Hsu, co-founder and managing partner of Mucker Capital (www.muckercapital.com). He explains all the ways VCs say "no" without actually using the word "no". You can read the full article at The Cryptic VC's Guide to Saying "No" On Investments in our Insights and Opinions section.


VCs say a lot of cryptic stuff when we pass on an investment – partially because it make us appear smart, but mostly because we simply don't want to be assholes. So, we try as hard as we can to not simply say "no," when we actually have no intention of giving away one cent. Instead of being straightforward about what we actually mean – "I hate your idea, we are not investing," etc – we say something meaningless like, "I prefer gluten-free cookies."

I don't know how many times I've run across entrepreneurs (in and outside of our portfolio) that excitedly tell me about some earth shattering mind meld they just had with an investor, but when I dig into the actual conversation, I quickly realize they just got passed. So to save everyone some embarrassment, and to save myself from having to change my incorrigible behavior, here are some of the most common ways I tend to pass without ever having to say that unfortunate, boring word, "No." (More...)


Read the whole article, The Cryptic VC's Guide to Saying "No".