I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
I get a lot of people pitching ideas for me to make an an introduction or get some advice or even give them some money. All of them ask for the same thing. Lets have a coffee of a formal presentation. Oh and can you sign this NDA.
Flip it around, put yourself in my shoes, what am I thinking? What is anyone you’re going to approach thinking?
- What is the idea? Am I interested in the space? Can I add value? Can I ‘fast fail’ it?
- Where are you at? Is this just a concept? Have you built something? Do you have a team? Revenue?
- Who’s involved? Do I know them?
- What do you need?
You want to talk to me, but you want me to sign a contract first about something I know nothing about. Great way to start a relationship.
Investors in the industry get a lot of approaches. If they took an hour each time they’d have no time.
So if you want to talk to someone about your idea this is what you should do:
- Flick them an email with a brief overview so the person has some context. Ask if they’re interested or think they can add value.
- If they think they can help, they’ll probably ask for more information. You should have an Executive Summary ready. If you haven’t taken the time to write down what your doing then you’re not ready to talk.
- People you approach for advice are not going to sign an NDA. In this industry reputation is king so the person is hardly likely to run away with your idea, nor would be likely to have the time too.
Our industry is maturing quickly. People want to help out, but we’ve all got to lift our game.
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