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Michael Dempsey has a great framing for the secret sauce in the founder/VC relationship. He calls it "vibe alignment" in this excellent and far-reaching post about where we are in the startup/VC world right now.
It is certainly possible and probably quite common to build a successful company with an investor syndicate you don't relate to and don't like. But it is not fun.
The rare thing is to build a successful company with an investor syndicate you love working with. I've had the pleasure of doing this many times in my career. It is what I seek out. It is the primary thing I like about VC and startups. It is what keeps me engaged after all these years.
When vibe alignment happens between a founding team and their investor group, it is magic. It makes it easier to correctly make those five to ten hard decisions that determine the trajectory of a company.
As Michael points out in his terrific and timely post, the institutional revolving door nature of VC right now makes finding vibe alignment harder and many founders just opt for the best financial deal. That's entirely rational behavior.
But it takes all of the fun out of it, unfortunately.
Michael Dempsey has a great framing for the secret sauce in the founder/VC relationship. He calls it "vibe alignment" in this excellent and far-reaching post about where we are in the startup/VC world right now.
It is certainly possible and probably quite common to build a successful company with an investor syndicate you don't relate to and don't like. But it is not fun.
The rare thing is to build a successful company with an investor syndicate you love working with. I've had the pleasure of doing this many times in my career. It is what I seek out. It is the primary thing I like about VC and startups. It is what keeps me engaged after all these years.
When vibe alignment happens between a founding team and their investor group, it is magic. It makes it easier to correctly make those five to ten hard decisions that determine the trajectory of a company.
As Michael points out in his terrific and timely post, the institutional revolving door nature of VC right now makes finding vibe alignment harder and many founders just opt for the best financial deal. That's entirely rational behavior.
But it takes all of the fun out of it, unfortunately.
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9 comments
Hi Casters. I read @mhd's excellent piece on VC and startups this morning and penned this reaction https://avc.xyz/vibe-alignment
having not had vibe alignment at different times as a founder (with advisors though not VCs), it feels hard to overexaggerate how big of a deal it is dramatically increases the chance we get those five to ten decisions right
I think power dynamics in the relationship from that start make this a bit awkward. Founder is trying to raise funds from a VC who is the “gate keeper” in the situation. Hard to vibe, and mostly feels professional. There are exceptions for outstanding founders and VCs.
i agree with this
Vibes very much aligned in that photo. Great post!
Would you agree that a vibe relationship is more important earlier in the startup stage, and less later?
No. If anything it becomes even more important as the stakes go up
But doesn’t it become more difficult to get, given that larger funds are likely to be involved, and they tend to be more transactional?
@fredwilson.eth love reading your stuff. It's always on my must read list. Kudos.