There's hope for investors' behavior
In theory, failure is good.
You fail in training for a sport, rehearsing if you’re a musician, doing homework at school. Failure is proof that you’re taking the path to success, and so it should be celebrated as a sign of moving forward. That’s in theory.
The funny thing is how we deal with failure in different geographies. US investors generally have a very simple way of handling it: when you fail, they ignore you. In the rest of the world, investors are harsher: they harass you with what if questions.
Fraud is a common accusation.
Deception is expressed in every color.
And gossiping about the failure is a vibrant tradition across many cultures.
We’ve seen it so many times at The Family in 7 years that it became a running gag:
If you succeed, it’s thanks to your investor; if you fail, it’s all because of the founders.
That’s why due diligence on investors is critical.
A community that shares knowledge based on experience can provide you with the info. As the founder, you do your best to develop your startup, and it should always stay like that. We, on the other hand, can be harsh. We can fight to protect our founders.
The market teaches lessons faster than nice principles.
Investor behavior changes thanks to two forces:
- an internal one: founders refuse to accept bad attitudes by delaying fundraising until the investor behaves;
- an external one: better investors are brought to the table and set their standards.
The Family has raised $700M for our startups in 7 years.
We’ve done 80% of that with international investors. And that’s just the beginning. Now with no constraints on space or time, our Demo Day is attracting investors around the world, with more than 50 investors contacted each week.
Soon, when a startup fails anywhere around the world, it’ll just be seen as fate — like it is in Silicon Valley — and the founder will simply be ignored and left in peace to carry on with their life. Soon.
