A Boulder Ventures house standard · July 2021
Good VC
vs. Bad VC
Anyone with a committed pool of capital and a business card can call themselves a venture capitalist.
Good Venture Capitalist
Bad Venture Capitalist
01Forms authentic relationships
01Forms transactional relationships
02Is happy to lead an investment
02Waits for other VCs to lead
03Introduces you to new customers
03Calls your customer references
04Closes on the signed term sheet
04Begins negotiating once it is signed
05Four to six board meetings a year
05Twelve board meetings a year
06Pings you once a week with an email
06Emails, texts and calls every day
07Introduces you to your new CFO
07Orders a full audit from a Big Four firm
08Invites you to lunch for a reason, and pays
08Invites you for no reason, you pay
09Wants all the news, good and bad
09Hates bad news and lets you know it
10Carefully makes commitments and sticks by them
10Never does what he says he will do
11Finds deals through authentic relationships and market understanding
11Chases whatever other VCs are investing in
12Talks about your company at every opportunity
12Talks about himself at every opportunity
13Doesn’t seem that busy
13Too busy to do anything
The standard
“The mountains are a dangerous place. Clients deserve a guide that the IFMGA standard represents. Experienced entrepreneurs deserve no less.”Continue to the decisions →