Ask HN: VC funding competitors?

3 pointsarohner6 comments

I'm in the middle of looking for Angle / Early VC investors for my startup. There's news today that a competitor of mine is getting funding from some big name VCs.

Is it worth my time to talk to the VCs that funded my competitor? Is it a good idea? Should I worry about my slides showing up at the competitor's offices?

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Most VCs won't fund competing companies, so it would be a waste of time at best to talk to them.

I noticed Chris Dixon and Caterina Fake invested in Stack Overflow. They're the founders of Hunch. Is that different because they're playing with their own money?

They must think they're not really competing, or they wouldn't have.

I know you said "Most VCs" not "all". Howard Morgan of First Round Capitol, said that they'll do competitive investments, but cautiously and with separate partners on the board. That's one partial exception at least.

Or they figured if they get in on the ground floor they might be in a preferred spot if they decide to attempt a buy-out later.

If it's a direct competitor, you'd be wasting your time and definitely any insights about the space would be shared with the competing company.

But often, VCs like a certain space and will invest in several non-competing companies. Before you panic, just ask!

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