My job, it has been determined, is to fund us.
It's the role I'd have chosen for myself (in fact, did choose for myself). A medical emergency with Paul's wife last weekend - that ultimately turned out ok - reminded me that I need to get things moving.
Everything is in place, all the parts are moving well and momentum is excellent... except for all the research, time, energy and effort that has to go into preparing to ask someone if you can spend their money. The VC pitch. It can't be avoided, no matter how much people already know about you before you walk into the room, and you can't waste people's time once you're there.
So we've been researching, heads buried in books, at libraries, reading research reports, old library of congress presentations, everything we can get our hands on in terms of "our market". It's extremely interesting stuff, and at the same time depressingly slow.
But we're almost done, now, and we've had a number of encouraging conversations along the way.
One such conversation took place last week at Highway 12 Ventures, the largest VC firm in Idaho. I met Mark, the firm's managing partner, at a gathering, and he invited Paul and I down to their office. When I objected that we were still a week or two away from being ready for that, he held his hands up.
"Aaron," he said. "You misunderstand. I just want to sit for a few hours and hear your story. It's great. We want to get to know you."
And so it was that Paul and I ended up at their office a few days later telling our story from the start. It was Mark and the rest of the partners of Highway 12, sitting around the table for 3 hours talking about the history and the adventure, everything. At some point, despite trying not to, the conversation began drifting to business models and the industry, and we started digging into the numbers I had been going over for some time. Man, was it fun. I'm rarely in my element as much as when I'm talking about something I'm passionate about.
Not that I'm good at it - I blunder and stutter and misspeak, and slur my words. I talk far too fast, and sometimes rearrange the syllables in words so that they lose normal meaning. But I have a good time doing it, and it was really fun to be able to finally shine some light on the work we've been doing. I had a really good time. And I think Highway 12 did, too.
I think Paul and I have picked up a knack for making friends; not just people that can help you, but people that
actually want to help you. You're not supposed to feel like you can go back to the VCs - the enemy, to some - and ask for their advice on how you should finish your business plan. They are, after all, the ones you're putting it together for.
But, I think I'd feel fairly comfortable asking most of the people we've connected with for their help. And I'd expect to get it, honestly. Not because of us, but because we keep discovering genuinely good people.
I don't think it's anything we're doing, exactly, to connect with these people. I think we've just been lucky enough to find good spirits; or they seem to find us. Or other good spirits that know us go out of their way to introduce us around. Every industry seems to have them. Someone asked me recently when I'd consider my project successful, and I have to say that I already consider it successful. I've connected too well with too many good people to think otherwise.
Everything from this point on is just a question of how much
more successful we can make it.
Anyway, this is a long post. I should get in the habit of posting more often, so the posts individually can be shorter.
Hopefully a press release will be going out soon with some interesting news.
Best,
Aaron
