Lies Entrepreneurs Tell…

December 30, 2011

In Tech Crunch last week there was blog titled “The Lies Entrepreneurs Tell” by AshKan Karbasfrooshan the founder and CEO of WatchMoJo. The 5 lies he lists are:

  • Lie No. 1: “I have no regrets” or “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t do it any differently”
  • Lie No. 2: “It’s not personal, it’s business”
  • Lie No. 3: “We’re not raising money”
  • Lie No. 4: “We’re not looking to sell”
  • Lie No. 5: “I’m your biggest fan”

You can read his blog here, but as an former operational executive in the software industry for over 25 years and now a venture partner at OpenView Partners where we invest venture capital in expansion stage companies  the one lie on the list that will shut down a potential investment is the first one:

  • “I have no regrets” or “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t do it any differently”

Einsteins definition of Insanity was… “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

George Roberts’ definition of Insanity is… “Life is too short to work with people who are not willing to admit their mistakes.”

If you are a founder or CEO of a company looking to raise capital, you need to be honest and prepared to answer questions like

  • What mistakes did you make?
  • What would you do differently?
  • What are your weaknesses?
  • What are your management team’s weaknesses?
  • What keeps you up at night?
  • Who is your biggest competitor?

Investors want to know that they are working with founders and CEOs who are willing to learn and admit they don’t have the answers for everything… otherwise life is too short!

All the best!

G

Venture Partner

<strong>George Roberts</strong> is a Venture Partner at OpenView. He enjoys partnering with companies and helping them achieve their goals through strategy, focus and operational execution. From 1990 to 2003, George spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, most recently having served as Executive Vice President of North American Sales. While at Oracle, George was responsible for over $1 billion in revenue and more than 2,000 employees, reporting directly to the company’s CEO and Chairman, Larry Ellison.