Believe the no, but not the why.

less than 1m read

·Nov 3, 2024

There are a couple pieces of advice that we give to YC founders when talking to investors. I think the first is: believe the "no," but don't believe the "why." You're going to get a lot of "no"s when pitching, and more often than not, the investor will not be transparent as to why they're saying "no."

I think the second is that we say often is, you know, a good investor is respectful of your time, responds to your questions, makes a decision quickly, and leaves you alone. There are very, very, very many people who aren't that good, and there are very few people who add value.

So, if I were to kind of summarize our advice, it is really hard to tell whether you're interacting with a great investor or not. Oftentimes, as an early-stage YC founder or startup founder in general, you don't get to choose, right? Like, you don't have this wealth of choice.

I might say the first optimization is to try to go for people who regularly invest in startups and who are respectful of your time, respectful with you, and who move quickly.

Peter Lynch: How to Invest Better Than Wall Street (Rare Interview)

We made a Video Game (FISH GAME) - Smarter Every Day 291

View All

The Real Story of Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer might be the most important physicist to have ever lived. He never won a Nobel Prize, but he changed the world more than most Nobel Prize winners. Under his leadership, the best physicists of the 20th century built the atomic bomb, f…

This Is A Light-Nanosecond!

I trimmed my beard yesterday, so I’m feeling a bit like a baby today. But look at the trimmings! Specifically this one that is 2.4 fortnits worth of beard growth. How do I know? Well, because of this tool I made. This about 5 years ago to free people from…

Creating Objects That Build Themselves | Nat Geo Live

Skylar Tibbits: We focus on designing physical components that can build themselves. So, this project proposes that you can have self-assembly at very large scales. This is interesting for construction scenarios where it’s hard to get to; it’s dangerous. …

Creativity in algebra | Algebra 1 | Khan Academy

[Music] [Music] Hi folks, Sal Khan here, and all I have to say is that algebra is perhaps the most pure way of expressing human thought. And like everything dealing with human thought, it’s incredibly creative. But you don’t have to take my word for it; w…

How To Clean Up Space Junk

On October the fourth, 1957, the first satellite, Sputnik I, was launched into space. Although it burned up in the atmosphere three months later, many satellites launched since then have not, leaving us with a virtual junk yard orbiting the earth. Now, th…

How to negotiate with billionaires.

I negotiate with billionaires every day in what I do. Everybody always asks me, “How do you negotiate with a billionaire, a big corporate executive, and things like that?” To tell you the truth, you negotiate with them just like you negotiate with anybod…

Believe the no, but not the why.

More Articles