Comments on: Final Approach http://ocvcblog.com/2008/03/03/final-approach/% Just a VC in The OC thinking out loud Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:08:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Ken Hubbard http://ocvcblog.com/2008/03/03/final-approach/%#comment-214 Ken Hubbard Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:40:22 +0000 http://ocvcblog.com/2008/03/03/final-approach/%#comment-214 Marc, I agree with your analogy. We are in the take off mode and the tower (investment community) is giving us mixed signals. Good start-ups, I have been involved in a few, sometimes run up against one or 2 missing ingredients. This can be due to their desire to get to market and prove their concept or myopic focus. Identifying those spices can make the difference between success, slow funding - sluggish ramp, or even crashing. So the question for you...how do you get solid input from a potential investor, whether they plan to invest or not about the areas they would like to see more depth in to mitigate risk? We have only spoken to a few target (understand our industry, invest in tech and have a business background) investors and they have not given us actionable information. It is frustrating and exciting. We don't want to bend their ear but sure would like to really know what they think. KWH Marc, I agree with your analogy. We are in the take off mode and the tower (investment community) is giving us mixed signals. Good start-ups, I have been involved in a few, sometimes run up against one or 2 missing ingredients. This can be due to their desire to get to market and prove their concept or myopic focus.

Identifying those spices can make the difference between success, slow funding - sluggish ramp, or even crashing. So the question for you…how do you get solid input from a potential investor, whether they plan to invest or not about the areas they would like to see more depth in to mitigate risk?

We have only spoken to a few target (understand our industry, invest in tech and have a business background) investors and they have not given us actionable information.

It is frustrating and exciting. We don’t want to bend their ear but sure would like to really know what they think.

KWH

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