VC Minute

007. Drive Action, Not Conviction

June 15, 2022 Rich Maloy Season 1 Episode 7
VC Minute
007. Drive Action, Not Conviction
Show Notes Transcript

You can't force conviction, but you can drive action.

About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech, logistics, and marketplace businesses. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $400k to $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.   

About Rich Maloy
Rich's mission is to rebuild the American dream through entrepreneurship. He works with early stage startups transforming the world, giving all people the opportunity to grow, learn and earn. With prior careers in finance and sales, he's now focused on startups investing through SpringTime Ventures where he is a Managing Partner. He's a father of two young children and loves sci-fi, skiing, and video games.  

Rich:

An investor that lacks conviction is not driven to action. You can't force conviction, but you can drive action. As much as I joke about pushing people into the pool, the fact is that you can't do that. Not even figuratively. You can't force conviction. What you can do is continually drive action until you get a decision. Even if that decision is a no. At SpringTime we always say"no is the second best answer." How do you drive action? There are three steps. Number one, work within that investor's system. Number two, work your system. Number three, add a deadline at the end. Getting investors to reach conviction, to jump in the pool, is the ultimate goal but you don't need to go for the close on every call. You should be working towards that close with every single communication and remember, remember that this is a pool party. They need to know that there are people in the pool splashing around having fun. You need to turn them from FOLS to FOMO. Just keep scooting those investors closer and closer to the edge of the pool with every call and with every communication