What do Investors mean when they say....

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Wil Schroter of Startups.com:

Hey Founders — Here's How to Take a Hint From Investors

"How many follow up emails should I be sending prospective investors?"

"How do I toe the line between being consistent on my follow up and just being a straight-up stalker? I don't want to miss my opportunity but I'm not sure how this game is played exactly."

Most of us Founders have never raised capital, so when we dig in for the first time, we're mostly guessing at how the game is played. And friends — it is indeed a game. The problem with this game is that as Founders, the odds are stacked way against us.

We actually make matters worse when we don't understand the rules, and instead revert back to our base instincts, which range from carpet bombing the investor with follow-ups to trying to translate "I think it's interesting" into 50 potential meanings, like a 16-year-old after their first date.

What we need is to be able to read the signals for what they are, and when we do, take our foot off the pedal if the signal says "stop" and jam the pedal when the signal is "yes."

Anything that's not "Yes" is "No"

The worst answer we can get from an investor is anything that's not "Yes" or "No." Everything in between, even if it sounds like "maybe" is a "no." We're inevitably going to hear two things from investors "That sounds really interesting" (they love to call things "interesting") and "We'd love to talk when you see a bit more growth."

Those both mean "No"

They don't sound like "no" — but that's 100% what they mean. When investors want to do a deal, they don't...

Read the rest of this article at startups.com...

Thanks for this Guest Post and its graphics to Wil Schroter, the Founder and CEO of Startups.com.

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