Favorite VC phrases

by Tim Berry on November 12, 2007

Thanks to Ask the VC for catching Rick Segal’s More favorite VC phrases, an amusing phrase book routine for dealing with venture capitalists. Segal mocks five common phrases you’ll learn to hate when and if you start really dealing with venture capital.

Which reminds me of two must-read Guy Kawasaki posts, along the same lines:

Top 10 Lies of Venture Capitalists: which is actually nine lies plus as amusing explanation for number 10.
Top 10 Lies of Entrepreneurs: including several of my personal favorites, “patents make our product defensible” and “all we have to do is get 1% of the market.”

Somewhere in the midst of these phrase book thoughts is the fact that when VCs are talking to entrepreneurs, “yes” means “maybe” and “maybe” means “no,” but that’s not included in these lists.

About Tim Berry

Tim Berry is the founder of Palo Alto Software, a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. Tim is the originator of plan-as-you-go business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching, and evangelizing for business planning. His full biography is available on his blog.