28. I’m 20 years of age and I’m meeting with a Managing Director of a large VC firm. What advice can you give me? Here’s my #1 piece of advice: don’t be nervous. Don’t worry that you are 20. The partner knows this. Don’t worry it’s a large VC firm. They work with start-ups every day. But -- do worry if you have no experience presenting confidently to small groups. If you can’t do this amazingly well on-the-fly it’s OK but just practice: • First, practice in front some group. Your colleagues. Whomever. • Then, if you can, “practice” in front of another VC first whose money you don’t really want as much or that you’ve say already take a few seed dollars from or that is otherwise in your network. That way if you screw this one up (and the first pitch is always, always, much worse than the next) ... no big deal. Whatever you do, don’t make an important VC meeting and pitch the first one you’ve ever done. It’s OK to be young and green, to not know all the answers. It’s enough to just really understand your product, your market, be an amazing CEO with traction and an amazing vision and an amazing team. That’s enough :) Being too nervous, not being able to answer questions confidently... that can create concerns. Practice alleviates these issues. Practice makes all public speaking in small groups and large (which are very different settings) better. You almost can’t get enough practice here until you are just really great at it. I’m pretty good at this myself ( I didn’t start out being any good at it.) Even now, I’m always better the second time I give a pitch. Always. SAASTR.COM 26