Hi! Thanks for your blog! I’m from the Boston area, so I’ve really appreciated your post on the tech scene here. I’m meeting with a high profile VC next week, as part of my dayjob as a reporter/interviewer. We’re going to get to have about 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted 1-on-1 time so I can do a profile story on him. I’d like to bring up my startup with him, but I feel a bit tacky about springing it on him. He and I have met before and he’s a super nice guy. But he’ll be the first real VC I’ve ever talked to about my startup. Do you have any suggestions on how to bring up my startup to a VC in a non-pitch meeting environment?

Mar 25, 2011

Hi! Thanks for your blog! I'm from the Boston area, so I've really appreciated your post on the tech scene here.

I'm meeting with a high profile VC next week, as part of my dayjob as a reporter/interviewer. We're going to get to have about 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted 1-on-1 time so I can do a profile story on him. I'd like to bring up my startup with him, but I feel a bit tacky about springing it on him. He and I have met before and he's a super nice guy. But he'll be the first real VC I've ever talked to about my startup. Do you have any suggestions on how to bring up my startup to a VC in a non-pitch meeting environment?

steelmangoes

HI, sorry for this response is delayed.

VC’s hear startup pitches all day, so no need to be bashful about sharing your startup. I’d probably be candid. ”Can I take 5 minutes to get feedback on a project I’m working on?” I’d probably try to have one or two very specific questions to ask. It’s hard in a quick meeting to really answer “so, what do you think?” and get substantive feedback. But you can ask more specific questions and get meaningful feedback in a short amount of time.

Good luck!