getting to no

Someone new to the team had to give their first "pass" on a deal this morning.

We'd been engaged in some exploratory evaluations of a start-up that claimed some innovative technology that we might want to incubate. They're in a part of the market that we're looking to expand in, so we spent a little more time and energy than we might otherwise have.

In the end though, we found the strength of their team and their technology weren't compelling enough for us to take the conversation to the next level. Of course this wouldn't be easy news to pass along since the entrepreneur was banking on our technical validation and our manufacturing relationship to help his new company continue to grow (fundraising and morale).

We talked about how to deliver a "quick and valuable no" and a couple of old posts from Brad Feld and Fred Wilson helped me better explain how we could actually be doing the entrepreneur a favor. Quickness could save him time and energy, letting him focus on opportunities with a higher chance of fruition. The valuable part, where we explained exactly why we were passing (technical question marks, team lack of experience in specific areas), could really give him advice on how to improve his team, his company and his message.

She drafted an email to try to convey all of this, but I suggested she give him a call. Most people try to avoid making a call like this either because they are afraid of confrontation, don't want to feel bad, or haven't given it enough thought why they're passing and couldn't articulate why if asked. She agreed that it would be the right thing, and I added that it would be a chance to continue the conversation. She'd also get a chance to find out if he had any additional information that might make us revisit our decision but more importantly she could get a better sense of what it's like to be on the other end of our business.

I asked her to give a little debriefing to the team this afternoon about giving a valuable no, how it went, what she felt, what went well, how it could've gone better, etc... So I'll may have more feedback later, but she was glad that she did it and said that she's opened other options for us to work together that might be better fits. Even though I've had to tell lots of people no before, it was a good chance to re-affirm good habits.