Entrepreneurs should realise early that a rejection from a venture fund typically says everything about the *fund* and its internal issues, and almost nothing about your business and its likelihood of success.
Brian Chesky, the founder of AirBnB, posted on Medium seven rejection emails he received from venture partners when he was getting his business going. Chesky was looking to raise $150,000 at a $1.5M valuation. That means for $150,000 you could have bought ~10% of Airbnb!
Two other points to take from these emails. 1. He received funding and the business was successful. And 2, price isn’t a driver. None of the emails referenced pricing.
The funds didn’t invest because they had other focuses, lacked expertise to be able to assess the category, or lacked expertise to be able to help on the journey.
When we say no to opportunities at Shearwater, we try very hard to make it clear that a ‘no’ from us isn’t a vote against your business and its prospects. It’s just a function of what we’re working on now, what we’re interested in investing in, and whether we think we can help you on your journey.
(But we like to think we’d still have said yes to Airbnb!!)
