Comment by nostrademons | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nostrademons | Hacker News Reader

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Most of their job actually consists of having coffee dates, as well as looking like an impressive, put-together "thought leader".

A rank & file VC is essentially a salesman. Their job is to understand everything that's going on in their sector, and have warm intros available so they can sell the founders of the actually-promising startups on having their firm invest. In general, you don't do this in the office. You get out and meet lots of people in the industry.

Likewise, if you're a founder going into fundraising mode, your full-time job is to be a salesman. You go out and meet lots of investors and blow shit up their ass so they all believe you're the next hot thing, and then you play them off against each others so they keep escalating their termsheets. I've had founders tell me that everything you do in the fundraising game is performative - you should treat it like a months-long acting gig where everything you do is designed to elicit the desired emotional reaction to get investors to open their portfolios.

> A rank & file VC is essentially a salesman.

When I was young I worked at a startup where the CEO was out of the office most of the time.

One of my coworkers was irate about how he had to work hard, while the CEO was out there doing who knows what. Being young and impressionable it started to rub me the wrong way, too.

Eventually one of the older guys informed me that the CEO was going out on sales trips to potential customers, meeting with investors, and doing a number of other in-person things that the company needed. That's why he wasn't in the office.

I felt foolish for thinking that his job and my job should look the same and occur in the office.

The disgruntled coworker didn't care, though. He wanted the CEO to be butts-in-seats and staring at a monitor because that's the only type of work he understood. I get the same vibes when people sneer at VCs for stuff like "meeting people all day". That's their job.

At least you recognize it. A lot of developers never get to the point where they accept that without the business side, the code doesn't matter. (To say nothing of where their paycheck comes from)

... and vice versa, my friend, don't forget that.

Sure is funny that their "very important job" is to fly first class, stay in 3 star hotels, wine and dine and schmooz, have immense influence, and make a million dollars a year doing it.

Sure is convenient while they chafe at the actual laborers for taking too many bathroom breaks.

3 star hotels seems out of place with the rest of the list.

> Their job is to understand everything that's going on in their sector, and have warm intros available so they can sell the founders of the actually-promising startups on having their firm invest

VCs’ job is to raise money. Sexy founders and past returns help with that. But the money is essentially booked when an LP signs a commitment.

that sounds exhausting

On some level they deeply desire for everyone to pay attention to them at all times, and they fear being ignored and irrelevant. Someone like that will struggle to understand that others don't get the same enjoyment out of being watched.

> they deeply desire for everyone to pay attention to them at all times, and they fear being ignored and irrelevant

You’re describing influencers who also happen to be VCs. Plenty of—perhaps most—successful VCs have no public profile.

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