Words of Wisdom From Fred Wilson

by Scott Edward Walker on May 3rd, 2013

To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.”  Each week, we post a short video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics.

This week, we present Fred Wilson, a super smart investor and the Managing Partner of two VC firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures.  In this outstanding interview by Michael Arrington, Founder of TechCrunch, Fred shares some words of wisdom for entrepreneurs with respect to fundraising and pitching investors, including the following:

• “When people laugh at the idea or laugh at the company…, that’s usually in my mind a good sign.” (at 1:56)
• “What I think you need to do is get [investors] engaged in a conversation as quickly as possible… If you only get through one slide because the partnership has hijacked the conversation, that’s the best thing that can ever happen.” (at 5:45)
• “Going through a really long back story is a bad idea.” (at 6:33)
• “I prefer someone to come in and make a really bold, audacious statement right off the bat.” (at 7:11)
• “Hook the [investor] and then reel them in.” (at 7:48)
• “It’s better to show the product [first] and then talk about [it]…” (at 8:38)
• “The best entrepreneurs are the ones who will listen to you, but won’t take orders from you.” (at 14:50)
• “You want [to invest in] somebody who is crazy, but mentally healthy.” (at 15:30)
• “To see things differently than other people see them and to have the courage to know you’re right requires somebody to be wired-up a little differently.” (at 16:25)
• “I think crazy is a compliment…I think you make money with people who are crazy.” (at 19:18)

I hope you enjoy it.  Cheers, Scott

Tags: Fred Wilson, helping entrepreneurs, investor, investors, Michael Arrington, TechCrunch, Union Square Ventures