Post #5140

Last week we organized an event in Amsterdam where I interviewed Pieter Kemps - ex-Partner at Sequoia. We spoke for 2 hours. Founders rarely understand how VCs operate and think. I did not understand it even after raising close to $80m in my companies until I became a VC. The idea was to give founders a 100% honest glimpse into how VC funds make decisions and why they reject deals. One insight that will stay with me is how Pieter describes the relationship between the founder and the VC fund. The founder is like a pilot and the investor is like a dispatcher. Dispatcher has seen thousands of planes fly and lived through all kinds of situations. Dispatcher needs to be honest with the founders but never forceful. After all, the dispatcher is not flying and does not want the plane to crash.