Are You Backable?
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My meetup group SFentrepreneur had a great time with Matt Mullenweg, founder of Wordpress last night. Matt touched on many different topics about his life, his passion, what he would do when he turns 40 and of course Wordpress.
One topic which particularly peeked my interest was his advice on working with venture capitalists (VCs).
He brought up this term “Backable”, a word that VCs often used to describe the investment worthiness of an entrepreneur. He mentioned a friend of his who is brilliant but for some reason the VCs don’t think he is “backable” which leads to no funding and no VC support.
This really got me thinking…Am I “backable”?
What would they say about me?
This is like working for corporate all over again… wondering what the “man” (the big boss) would say or think about me.
Ha!
Here are my two cents to my fellow entrepreneurs:
Forget “Backable”
Instead of trying to be “Backable”, get busy and be someone of value. Is your business helping anyone? Is your business worth talking about?
Put Your Skin in the Game
If you truly believe in what you are doing, put some skin the game. Put your own time, your own effort and your own money to make it happen first. Why would anyone want to back you up if you are not even willing to back yourself up?
Just Freaking Do It
Why wait for funding? Why wait for a VC? You know deep down if you really want to make something happen, it will happen. Money is not the real issue. It’s your commitment that is holding you back.
Use Plain English
This one is from Matt. We often are so in love with what we do and so into the technical details and jargon sometimes that we forget to use plain English to explain what our business is all about. It is not about the technology or the buzz words. Explain how your business helps people and how it generates revenue. That is what matters! Use plain English so normal people can understand.
So… do you believe you are Backable?
Photo by EMMEALCUBO
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edith | Career & Businesses, Attitude, Money & financial Independence, Action
I agree — the backable concept was a big take-away from the event, but rather than making you anxious it should make you active. Edith’s advice to commit to your ideas is inspiring. I also thought Matt’s points about protecting yourself through excellence were interesting — ie don’t worry about someone else stealing your ideas because if they can execute them better they deserve to win out. Focus on excellent execution and success will come.
Hi Edith,
I totally agree with you on the “backable” idea. We became internet entrepreneurs because we didn’t want to have to answer to someone else! I like your thought process … like Nike says “Just do it!”
-Jon
I enjoyed hearing Matt’s perspective and chose to interpret his comment to imply “How Trustworthy Are You?”
VCs and clients have one thing in common and that is they reach into their wallets to place monetary and personal trust in an entrepreneur’s hands.
An entrepreneur may be able to technically communicate a product or service but how does he/she convey a measure of their integrity?
Carlos
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