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Just to clarify, by “more business plans” I did not mean that all business plans automatically are quality-material. I’m just saying that while a VC will probably receive hundreds a year, most entrepreneurs will not receive hundreds of proposals to fund their start-ups. Thus it is perfectly logical that one type of proposal, that of offering or refusing funding, will attract more attention than that asking for funding.

Generally, I think it comes down to overhead and chemistry. A VC manages a fund for investors. He tries to minimise the costs of running it, versus maximising the profit. So he will focus on the projects he has more faith in and give (much) less attention to those that he doesn’t.

Also, because there is not much tangible value as yet, it’s a chemistry-thing. A VC will more likely invest into ventures, where he trusts the people to run it well. More so, than a pile of papers, aka a business plan, that he receives in the mail.

I think that your points are well worth considering for existing relationships between VCs and entrepreneurs, and in a utopian world for non-existing one’s as well. And I do agree that entrepreneurs should not grab for every funding blindly and choose the type of investor that will help their venture the most. Often this will be no investor at all.

On your 2 points:

1) Entrepreneurs should indeed never take a “no” for an answer, but as human beings, they might expect respect from people. & I don’t think not taking someone seriously show respect. Fortunately, very few VCs or investors in general treat people as such, thanks to the fact that most venture capitalists or angels used to be entrepreneurs themselves. This tendency not to answer e-mails is as I see it very “Latin” – as opposed to the Anglo Saxon, as Latin people tend to rely a lot on status. And since the VC status is higher than the one of the young entrepreneur…

What’s more, I mention the example of Stéphane Bohbot, who successfully launched his venture at last and then found himself in the “successful entrepreneurs” category. So when he started all over again, he could just go and know at any VC door. In this case, where you don’t have to beg, it’s also a human reaction not to go and know at doors of people who turned your back at you when asking for help in the early beginning of your entreneurial trip.

Obviously, VCs can’t say “yes” to all business plans. So my point was to state how they could say ‘yes’ without alienating the entrepreneur in case (s)he turns out to be successful.

2) VCs receiving more business plans than start ups they can fund is an excellent thing (and hopefully the situation is as such!). However, I don’t think VCs receive a lot of top projects – or they miss these reading business plans coming through introductions and referrals only. In other words, the situation may be more balanced than you think.

So, it’s not about not taking a “no” for an answer, but it’s about taking an absence of answer as a lack of consideration.

In general, while I really value the sentiments expressed in your post and believe that many of the points you make constitute somewhat of a competitive advantage (ignoring the costs of implementing all this) over other VCs, I don’t expect many venture capitalists to follow it. Simply because the number of business plans they get will still be larger than the number of investment-proposals an entrepreneur will get, thus it still being an unequal partnership.

Still, keep these posts coming! I’ll hopefully have lots to say