Most good VCs are quite well-networked. Great ones spend a lot of time maintaining strong relationships and invest heavily in making valuable connecti

Startup to Scale-up: VC influence in executive placement

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2024-03-28 15:30:04

Most good VCs are quite well-networked. Great ones spend a lot of time maintaining strong relationships and invest heavily in making valuable connections for their companies. The best VCs are total pros at manifesting valuable opportunities across their portcos via networks.

Say, for instance, a company is hiring a CTO or a CFO or a VP of marketing for the first time. Great VCs will recommend, refer, and introduce top candidates at the start of the search process. Equally, at the end of the process, great VCs often create incredible leverage sealing the deal once an offer has been extended.

Consider how unique and valuable an investor can be in getting a candidate excited and injecting a particular kind of confidence into a big career move:

The messages (1, 2, and 3) can be highly influential in helping get senior leaders excited about joining a startup. When done the right way, that is.

Even if details aren’t broadcast on twitter, word of negative interactions between an executive candidate and a particular investor gets around in a big way. Executives who are turned off or offended or got a bad vibe from an investor, they pass. And then they talk about it. A lot.