Things have slowed down for me in April compared to what I had experienced the first three months of the year. I am attending fewer entrepreneurship events, have exhausted the low hanging fruit of my network, and am starting to be more selective as to the events I attend and the people I reach out to. (Just this past month in the Boston area there were three events on crowdsourcing, two on pitching investors, and two on building a team so one definitely hits a point of diminishing returns!) Bottom line, my days are less busy than they had been earlier this year.
This isn’t necessarily a problem although I admit to sometimes feeling like I’m “wasting” a day if I don’t have something scheduled. But I think it’s ok. As noted last week, I’ve sharpened my focus to talking to investors. The whole process of identifying the right ones, making contact, scheduling meetings, and following up on whatever emerges happens at a slower pace than my interactions with entrepreneurs and advisors. And yet the investor discussions I’m having seem more productive in terms of actually getting me closer to finding interesting startups in need of what I have to offer.
The analogy I draw is that of swimmers. The casual, unskilled swimmer exerts a lot of energy thrashing his arms and kicking his legs while not actually progressing very quickly through the water. In contrast, the serious, skilled swimmer moves his limbs more slowly and deliberately but efficiently cuts through the water at a much faster pace. I’d like to think that the progress I am making is more akin to the latter than the former. Having said that, I need to remind myself that the priority is to find the right position rather than find one quickly.
With all that said, below is a summary of what I’ve been up to since the start of April:
- Venture capitalist
Met with the founder of a local venture firm. We discussed my background and his views about clean tech. He offered to introduce me to two separate entrepreneurs who might have a need for someone like me. I’ve since had a call with one of these entrepreneurs and will be meeting him in person later this month. The second introduction is still pending. - Mentoring session: MIT Enterprise Forum
Had my second meeting with my team. The fit is not great as this team’s product is a B-to-C health supplement. However, I’m finding that a large amount of my B-to-B semiconductor experience is applicable as many fundamental marketing concepts such as defining the target market, understanding user needs/alternatives, establishing market channels, etc. are applicable. - Former colleague
Met a former colleague who has also left Analog Devices within the last year. This is a younger engineer who is interested to start his own company. He had a few ideas he wanted to bounce off me which made for interesting conversation. - Acquaintance involved in startups
Met someone I used to play soccer with who has held CFO/COO positions at several IT startups and is now considering founding one with a technologist he is working with. We didn’t find much common ground to build upon but it was good to catch up with him and learn what we each are up to. - Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network event
(Winning Investors with your Pitch and Presentation) - The Capital Network expert lunch
(Understanding the Dilution Impact of Early Stage Investment)
This was one of a series of educational events focusing on startup finance topics. This particular event went into great detail about startup capitalization and various associated issues.