A friend of mine is a partner at a large VC firm. He’s an awesome dude and today we got into a debate about this tweet:
.@fcollective is looking fwd to seeding great startups this summer while big VCs are on vacation spending their management fees
chris dixon
cdixon
I commented and then a few minutes later, my VC friend DM’d:
“You don’t think Chris is taking a vacation this year? He has more money than many VCs (including me!). I’m working all summer.“
An entire debate ensued between the two of us. Rather than give you the details, I thought I’d step back, abstract it at the high level, and then re-render our conversation as if it was a theoretical discussion between “Product Guy” and a “Marketing Guy,” re-told by the creators of South Park.
MG: Dude, you really need to change how you do shit. Your brand is getting destroyed out there by Other Guy.
PG: Are you fucking kidding me??? Our product has X, Y and Z features that Other Guy wouldn’t even know how to build if they popped out of his asshole and smacked him in the nuts. Our product is vastly superior.
MG: Interesting. So why don’t you say that on your interwebs blog site? I mean, you are an internet company, right?
PG: Dude, I’m so busy working on product, why the fuck would I waste my time on a silly little blog. I’ve got real shit to do!!!
MG: You know, Other Guy is killing you on his blog and raping you on the Twitters. Not that I believe it all, but I’m a total n00b when it comes to your product and despite all those warnings on the box, I actually do kinda believe everything I read on the interwebs. I mean, I’ve got no other good source of info. And Other Guy seems really smart and entertaining.
PG: Pttttfff!! You’re an idiot if you believe Other Guy. What a douche.
MG: Perhaps. But I’m not the only one. Most people don’t really understand your product anyhow, and you’re a dumbass if you actually think that people make decisions based on a rational comparisons of perfect information. The world doesn’t work like that, and if it did, well, I’d never get laid.
PG: I respect you less with every word you say.
MG: Hey dude, I’m just one man. Hate the game, not the player.
My message: If you’re a big VC and you’re tired of getting trashed by Chris Dixon, you should speak up and publicly make your case. If you don’t, you risk looking like you either don’t understand the internet or don’t care about it. Both are bad. So speak up. We’re listening. And we want to hear what you have to say. (Seriously, we’re n00bs and we get all our info from the internet. If you write, we’ll read.)
http://www.dshini.net/de/spage/a88b7f4d-aa99-b994-2546-d165cbaef464
http://www.dshini.net/de/spage/a88b7f4d-aa99-b9…
Hey I find Chris's input really interesting, he's not scared to say what he thinks & observes. I would like to see more vc's & angels talking about women entrepreneurs & startups too! I just did an interview (divided into 3 parts) with Randy Komisar on women entrepreneurs. Come on guys there's enough room for all of us, move over ok?
I would consider an investment by Chris Dixon based solely on his tweets and opinions. He says it like it is, he is engaged, and he identifies himself with the starve-up environment and community. Not some banker type that sits on his money behind a big desk and tells you that $1.2M to $2M seems like a lot of money to solidify a multi-platform enterprise technology solution and an additional $7 to $11.5M to go to market when the numbers are staring everyone in the face and every market capitalization within the niche would justify it. It just shows how out of touch the VC community is with the market need requirements for an entrepreneur and technology to be successful. Then again the perception is VC's really don't care about you or your products success; It’s about market hype, fast exit, and ROI. Chris is winner in my book. If it is purely a ploy and market posturing, it’s absolutely brilliant because the perception is based on truth. People that are passionate and excited about their technology don't want to take vacations. http://www.retailpromotions.com
On my phone I see you have wptouch covered. Nice blog transformation.
Glad to hear it!
haha, totally agree malcolm
“The world doesn’t work like that, and if it did, well, I’d never get laid”
Love the exchange! Having been in VC/PE and now angel investing I think the reason most VC's don't engage (some do and they are the good guys in this polarized view of the word) is that much of what Chris Dixon says is right on and they would likely just look worse by trying to defend. The limiteds need to push more for transparency and engagement from the GP's – VC's only listen to money
Oh yeah, I think it's genius marketing. Pisses off the competition, but it makes entrepreneurs love him.
Quite the Machiavellian, that Dixon fellow.
Priceless Quote: You know, Other Guy is killing you on his blog and raping you on the Twitters.
I know it's you speaking your mind, but as an angel, taking cracks at VCs is actually a pretty smart competitive tactic. Nobody cares too much about nitpicking nuanced differences between VC, angel, seed, blah, but as soon as you polarize the situation, people take sides, and a debate is on. I'm betting it's resulted in increased deal flow to prominent angels (yourself included) while at the same time, setting founder expectations based upon who they're talking to. Money is not just money anymore.
LOL. first of all I'm really not taking a vacation. not out of principle but simply because I like working. 🙂
also, this whole “blogging takes so much time” argument is strange to me. look at the dates on my blog post. i average 1-2 posts a week (usually 1 per week i think) and most posts are just a few paragraphs. i usually write them on saturday morning. i tweet throughout the day whenever something strikes me as funny or interesting (usually after talking to a funny/interesting person). there really isn't a trade off in this case between product and marketing.
secondly, i would wager that most VCs don't blog because either 1) they feel like it could get them in trouble in the firm if they tell the truth, or 2) they don't really have that much to say that's relevant to entrepreneurs since they have spent their lives in college, banks, b-school and then at VC firm.
Dig the new blog layout Matt, enjoyed the MG/PG interchange. It's easy to forget about MG when you have your head down cranking out code/building shit but he's makes a good point:
“Most people don’t really understand your product anyhow, and you’re a dumbass if you actually think that people make decisions based on a rational comparisons of perfect information. The world doesn’t work like that, and if it did, well, I’d never get laid.”
nice.
Sure, it's not about a specific tweet. But it's the whole idea of letting your message be defined by the competition. As an entrepreneur, it worries me whenever I see a business let that happen to them. It makes me question the management.
True, big VCs should spend more time in the community and do more to *actively* build and protect their brands. Run events, throw parties, blog (legitimately and profusely), do deals with transparency and go to bat for your portfolio companies.
I don't think this involves responding to each and every thing Chris Dixon says. I mean, how could his tweet copied above be construed as anything but a bait?
Chris is opinionated, but engaged. I agree–if you read something that pisses you off, do something about it!