A couple of weeks ago I announced my idiotic plan to launch a YouTube channel. Today I released the third video in a three-part series called “Never Take Money from a VC.” More than a few people have asked why a VC would decide to highlight this topic first. To be clear, my motivations were self-serving. I spend too much time talking to founders who haven’t invested the time to understand the implications of taking venture capital money. Unfortunately, I spend even more time talking to founders who are wasting time talking to investors when they aren’t building a venture-scale business. Hopefully, this first series of videos will help early-stage founders be more educated on their options before starting down the venture capital path.
I like the efficiency of YouTube, which allows me to say something once and have it consumed by lots of people. The response from these first videos has been super encouraging. As I write this post, viewers have streamed more than 200 hours of content from the first two videos, which as been a delightful surprise. Thanks to all the people who have liked or commented on the videos so far. Your feedback is super helpful. Please keep the comments coming!
In case you haven’t watched the series yet, here are the videos along with a brief description of why you should never take money from a VC:
Part I – You almost certainly want to build a lifestyle business instead
Part II – You’ll eventually have to sell your baby
Part II – Venture Capital is not necessarily a good value
If you haven’t subscribed to the channel yet, please do! I’ve learned a ton and I’m fairly confident that I can get much better as I get more practice. As I mentioned at the end of the third video, I’m planning a new series around the early steps you should take to ensure an awesome startup culture so stay tuned!