I think the thing to realize here is that "no"s aren't personal.
Well, I mean, sometimes they are. But they're usually not. A $1B fund has roughly three years to allocate that $1B in resources --- that's nearly $1M a day. You need to make sure that the speed at which you're expected to invest doesn't detract from the quality of deals, so your bar has to be extremely high.
I think a valuable skill to develop as a founder is to recognize the difference between; "no, but I like you" and "no, and I don't like you / don't care." This industry is built on relationships. Unfortunately there will be a ton of people who just don't give a shit about you. But the ones that do, they're going to help unlock doors for you, and even if you get a "no", focus on recognizing real "clicks" with people.
Well, I mean, sometimes they are. But they're usually not. A $1B fund has roughly three years to allocate that $1B in resources --- that's nearly $1M a day. You need to make sure that the speed at which you're expected to invest doesn't detract from the quality of deals, so your bar has to be extremely high.
I think a valuable skill to develop as a founder is to recognize the difference between; "no, but I like you" and "no, and I don't like you / don't care." This industry is built on relationships. Unfortunately there will be a ton of people who just don't give a shit about you. But the ones that do, they're going to help unlock doors for you, and even if you get a "no", focus on recognizing real "clicks" with people.