After a meeting I had earlier today, I thought it would make sense to share some practical advice about presenting your company to the venture community. As a general rule, it is best not to clip your fingernails while pitching your company. As with all things, there are certainly exceptions to the rule. I suppose that if you are presenting a better fingernail clipper, it is possible that you might demonstrate the use of your better clipper. But in pretty much every other circumstance, it is probably best to hold off on the nail clipping until after you have left the VC's office. And while I haven't experienced it directly, I'm fairly certain it is also a bad idea to brush your teeth, floss, shave or otherwise engage in personal hygiene while pitching your company. Just thought I'd share the thought while the mental picture was so fresh.
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» Clipping fingernails in meetings from Wombat Mobile
This post at VentureBlog made me LOL:
Excerpt:
After a meeting I had earlier today, I thought it would make sense to share some practical advice about presenting your company to the venture community. As a general rule, it is best not to clip your f... [Read More]
» Sage advice from Ian Murdock's Weblog
David Hornik: "As a general rule, it is best not to clip your fingernails while pitching your company."... [Read More]
» Meetings from slef-reflection
Meeting horror storiesI expect meeting horror stories to fill the trackbacks to VentureBlog: Personal Hygiene and PowerPoint Don't Mix (via Ian Murdock). Should be fun to read later.... [Read More]
» Hitting the nail on the head from rexblog
TITLE: Hitting the nail on the head
URL: http://www.rexblog.com/2005/04/12#a6446
IP: 70.84.113.38
BLOG NAME: rexblog
DATE: April 13, 2005 12:03 PM
TITLE: Hitting the nail on the head
URL: http://www.rexblog.com/2005/04/12#a6446
IP: 70.84.113.38
BLOG NAME: rexblog
DATE: 04/13/2005 12:03:45 PM [Read More]
» Grooming from Subsidiary Thoughts
http://www.ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2005/001206.html [Read More]
» Presentations and Nail Clippers from Tom's Tech Toys
Wow. I almost hope this guy comes to pitch to me, just so I can tell the story… VentureBlog: Personal Hygiene and PowerPoint Don’t Mix... [Read More]
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It seems a large number of corporate employees have no social grace or personal hygiene. Even sales specialists such as entrepreneurs and consultants, whose success depends on their appearance, seem to fall down on these most simplistic of presentation do's and dont's.
I once had a high profile client who kept delivering the dollars, but stunk to high heavens of week old laundry. I could barely breathe in his presence. Talk about a conflict of interest!
What's the solution? I would be pleased to hear any suggestions €¦
nickhac
nick@nickhac.com
www.nickhac.com
Posted by: nickhac | 04/26/2005 at 06:01 AM
I am amazed not by the entrepreneurial spirit in the Bay Area, but by the fact that these VCs all think they know everything.
The number of VCs I have met who throw out ideas that are stupid beyond belief is amazing. They sit there in funding meetings as some omnicient oracle and throw out "ideas." Most of them are worthless, or so it seems.
Someone please tell me why anyone should waste their time with VCs.
If you think you have a business that is good and solid, then you should build it on your own. Not through a VC. In my opinion they are all a bunch of idiots.
Posted by: RevStrat Man | 06/01/2005 at 02:41 PM