How to make a deal with a VC at a tech conference
Are the schmooze sessions, after-parties and secret dinners with investors that take place during tech conferences mere distractions, or are these events an opportunity for founders to close a deal?
Which parties should you attend? How do you get in? And above all, what outcome are you working toward?
Some events are small, while others are shows of pomp, power and pizzazz. “For me, this is a time to bring value to my portfolio,” says Sid Trivedi, partner at Foundation Capital. Foundation’s RSA 2020 event is a small gathering of 50 people who fall into one of three categories: buyers from Global 2000 companies, channel partners or portfolio CEOs.
“In particular, I am focused on helping seed-stage companies because they rarely get access to such a buyer universe,” Trivedi says. At the other end of the spectrum, some events will have several hundred attendees, which raises the odds of getting lost in a crowd.
“If the event has a well-curated attendee list, it makes it worthwhile for both sides. Often, I can scan the room in 15 minutes and know if I want to stay here,” said Ariel Tseitlin, a partner at Scale Venture Partners. Some conference events are hosted by top-tier investors and partnership-heavy corporate VCs, while others are driven by consulting groups that share market trends and research content. As one founder bemoaned, “why can’t we just have a Tinder for VC-CEO match-making?”
Bypassing the firewall
If you don’t have an invitation, I don’t advise just showing up at the door; these are well-guarded events. Gate-crashing is a good strategy for a 19-year-old (who has the maturity of a 12-year-old), but not for the rest of us. Some founders use a simple tactic: get an existing portfolio CEO to take you in as their guest. Most VCs love it when they get such an introduction; it’s a great start and much better than sending a cold email or a LinkedIn to the lead partner.
Mahendra Ramsinghani Contributor More posts by this contributor With Alibaba, Pivotal and Lightbend on board, Reactive flexes its ROI muscle in the microservices world Investors are waking up to the emotional struggle of startup founders Are the schmooze sessions, after-parties and secret dinners with investors that take place during tech…
