Raising Venture Capital: 5 Signs You’re Talking To a Good Investor

George Roberts

July 20, 2010

Last week’s blog was around an article in the WSJ that explored a problem that founders, CEOs and management teams of early and expansion stage companies sometimes experience when they are not careful about who they raise growth capital from.

They find out after they take venture capital that their VC does not have time to help them with their business… imagine that. As a follow-on, I came across an article in The Business Insider War Room by Roger Ehrenberg titled “5 Signs You’re Talking To A Good Investor” that I thought I would share with you.

Roger’s points are below:

  1. They are nice people to get along with
  2. They have lots of domain expertise
  3. They are willing and able to help
  4. They have the skill to deliver constructive — and often tough — feedback
  5. They can help build an ecosystem around a company

At OpenView we have structured the firm — from the Partners to OpenView Labs to the firms Advisors — to make sure that we have deep domain expertise to assist you and your management teams in scaling the business operationally and, in a capital efficient manner, to leverage your people and funding.

As far as willing to help, if you talk to anyone who knows us our model is to be active advisors outside of the board meetings, you will find out that we are committed, in it with both feet and pulling on the oars right next to you and your management team. Part of this is also having constructive discussions about the hard choices you will be making everyday to build and grow a great company and achieve a successful exit with people who have real world operational experience in the software industry.

If you are an expansion stage software company looking for a venture capital investment… spend some time getting to know the OpenView team and philosophy. You might find out that we are the best fit for you and your management team.

All the best!

G

Venture Partner

<strong>George Roberts</strong> is a Venture Partner at OpenView. He enjoys partnering with companies and helping them achieve their goals through strategy, focus and operational execution. From 1990 to 2003, George spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, most recently having served as Executive Vice President of North American Sales. While at Oracle, George was responsible for over $1 billion in revenue and more than 2,000 employees, reporting directly to the company’s CEO and Chairman, Larry Ellison.