I was talking with a friend today about the over-coverage of venture capital funding in the tech media and at all levels of tech ecosystems.
Scott Petty also happens to be a general partner in a successful venture capital fund in Utah. He told me something that made me laugh.
“When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
VCs are playing a serious game that requires that they invest all the money they raised into the MOST promising companies that will grow big fast and win VERY big.
That game is very exciting. And very hard.
It’s their VC “hammer” that is looking for the right startup “nail” that will be a great fit and a great long-term partner.
So does that mean that tech entrepreneurs are getting “hammered” with the push to raise funding and go big?
He agreed that we only hear about big funding, big exits, and big valuations in the tech news, social media, and throughout tech ecosystems.
“The first thing any entrepreneur needs to do–for themselves– is to decide what game they are going to play to grow their companies.
“VC funding is not for most entrepreneurs–even for tech entrepreneurs. And every founder needs to fully understand what is required to play that game successfully.”
Thanks, Scott, for being helpful to serious tech founders and not always pushing “funding drugs” on founders who don’t want to play the VC funding game.
There is a growing crowd of savvy and efficiently-funded founders that are winning on their own terms.
