Last week, founders released all their VC horror stories on X.
VCs falling asleep during the pitch.
VCs escaping 10 minutes before the meeting starts.
VCs inviting you to a cougar party at the Rosewood hotel (!!)
We went through 500+ tweets and compiled the best ones for your masochistic pleasure.
Not all VCs are bad. In my experience, most are actually good professionals and decent people.
But when they are bad… Well, see for yourself:
Disclaimer: This archive is provided for founder entertainment. To request a removal, contact us at [email protected] . We didn't verify or approve any of the content in this post. Don't sue us pls :)
Table of Contents
1. “He kept talking about RAM”
Source: https://x.com/DhravyaShah/status/2062928256584794519
2. “He didn't think a woman could lead an infrastructure company."
Source: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2062860530360959273
3. “So you're saying it's smaller than the market for USB cables”
Source: https://x.com/typesfast/status/2062791307094048937
4. “The VC was trying to escape his office before our meeting”
Source: https://x.com/travisk/status/2062224472426365045
5. “It gradually dawns on me that I am pitching the receptionist”
Source: https://x.com/mark_cummins/status/2062293061426663612
6. “Why am I talking to you? Who got this meeting on my calendar?”
Source: https://x.com/edwardbenson/status/2062895735402553592
7. “He asked to downsize from $5M to $100K the day we closed”
Source: https://x.com/ankurnagpal/status/2062901605121278072
8. “They invited me to go sailing. I watched them sail off without me”
Source: https://x.com/samelliottsam/status/2062904452861047078
9. “I don’t want to call you a meek Asian woman, but…”
Source: https://x.com/dunkhippo33/status/2062768969560510486
10. “He interrupted to say how glad he was I wasn’t trying to have kids”
Source: https://x.com/clairevo/status/2063108131140645172
11. “He spent my entire Zoom pitch throwing peanuts in the air”
Source: https://x.com/PhilipJohnston/status/2062391204864459040
12. “He took a call to yell at his wife’s dentist during the pitch”
Source: https://x.com/bscholl/status/2063028369201975453
13. “They cut our valuation from $12M to $10M via voicemail”
Source: https://x.com/MattMickiewicz/status/2062983682898657661
14. “The partner dozed off through the whole thing”
Source: https://x.com/nbobba/status/2062508268010762715
15. “A $4M handshake, then ‘actually, we’re going to pass.’”
Source: https://x.com/arlanr/status/2063038155264315432
16. “His butler picked me up at the airport in a Rolls Royce SUV"
Source: https://x.com/lukesophinos/status/2063024108401512756
17. “Pitching SoftBank: popping zyns and smoking vape”
Source: https://x.com/thogge/status/2062971641995628949
18. “I drove 5 hours overnight to make it. He no-showed. Twice.”
Source: https://x.com/BrandonWaselnuk/status/2062911102271558025
19. “They committed to leading. Signed the docs. Never wired.”
Source: https://x.com/ShahRathin/status/2062740166469697866
20. “Don Valentine slept through our entire GroupMe pitch”
Source: https://x.com/jaredhecht/status/2062933124992905443
21. “They walked away from a term sheet and later asked for a reference.”
Source: https://x.com/bcantrill/status/2062693525771387097
22. “The partner wasn’t there and his EA couldn’t find him”
Source: https://x.com/kushalbhagia/status/2062563256968110109
23. “The partner pitched to my CTO that he didn't need me.”
Source: https://x.com/NathanLands/status/2062691133634068836
24. “We want to hear about your trauma. Trauma makes better founders.”
Source: https://x.com/sadbryce/status/2062993317026017486
25. “A famous VC picked his nose and ate it while I was pitching”
Source: https://x.com/threepointone/status/2062914998578434088
26. “A VC flew me to Bangalore, the GP didn’t even show up”
Source: https://x.com/Akshay001/status/2062947975492698273
27. “His English isn’t great, but pitch him”
Source: https://x.com/0xdirichlet/status/2062885382203867198
28. “A partner propositioned me to be his sugar baby”
Source: https://x.com/formerlyoffline/status/2062982235595375076
29. “They flew me cross-country for a partner meeting. The room was empty.”
Source: https://x.com/BecklandRyan/status/2062598004771844426
30. “A Japanese VC spent 15 minutes reading his own slides aloud”
Source: https://x.com/DeckrobotCom/status/2062414694221033544
31. “Showed up to a GP dinner; the female associate was alone, dressed for a date.”
Source: https://x.com/DeckrobotCom/status/2062413900293820533
32. “Dog walker cancelled, they want to do the pitch just walk and talk”
Source: https://x.com/alexcohenof1/status/2062464559940616672
33. “Investor fell asleep in a tech due-diligence meeting.”
Source: https://x.com/brandalisms/status/2062449654059462808
34. “An eager but incompetent junior VC begged to squeeze in $250k”
Source: https://x.com/NadimHossain/status/2062932703784448122
35. “I had a signed term sheet. Two weeks later, the LP ‘breached contract’”
Source: https://x.com/thepenafiel/status/2063042544926118116
36. “A board member forced us to give our APIs free to our largest customer.”
Source: https://x.com/asyncanoop/status/2063138920582525170
37. “VC deleted our client’s files by placing a tequila bottle on the delete key”
Source: https://x.com/L7Weenie23/status/2063101896508715300
38. “VC flew us out for two days then passed because we were ‘too young’”
Source: https://x.com/PritnRandom/status/2062949986300842036
39. “He ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and never paid the bill”
Source: https://x.com/MrDHat/status/2062683649208664183
40. “He sent his assistant buy the entire Burger King menu”
Source: https://x.com/bradenkeith/status/2063092076011483551
40. “Euro VC tried to block a 9-figure exit for being ‘only’ 4–5x”
Source: https://x.com/alexfmac/status/2063246028355088418
41. “A well-known VC photographed my outfit, then passed 2 min after I left”
Source: https://x.com/Mira404/status/2062980519122309187
42. “I invested in your competitor, thanks for educating me.”
Source: https://x.com/GelosSnake/status/2062996655654256972
43. “We don’t think ex-bankers can be entrepreneurs”
Source: https://x.com/Samirkaji/status/2062981104177750398
44. “VC told a colleague who had just lost a child: “He should be over it.’”
Source: https://x.com/StevenGlinert/status/2062459435671601380
45. “One investor spent 5 min grilling me on when I’d step down as CEO”
Source: https://x.com/richardartoul/status/2062336195003064560
46. “I pitched 1,000+ investors to get 5 yeses ; some of the no’s were brutal”
Source: https://x.com/sethpriebatsch/status/2062345445926404603
47. “‘I just don’t see you being able to manage a team”
Source: https://x.com/antoine_moyroud/status/2062946444412125472
48. “Partner was rude with our customer on a reference call”
Source: https://x.com/matanSF/status/2062948813761872109
49. “A VC told us housing and construction is ‘a small market’”
Source: https://x.com/AGampel1/status/2063181994909974807
50. “A VC called cross-border finance ‘too niche.’”
Source: https://x.com/BennyInHerBag/status/2063089208420692482
51. “VC said we’d never get liquidity. We were the biggest exit of the year.“
Source: https://x.com/hereforElon/status/2063099387870683491
52. “Raising a seed with $20M ARR, investor needs to see ‘more traction’”
Source: https://x.com/DAllison24/status/2062851698172031474
53. “‘If we give you this money, are you gonna miss your wife and kids?’”
Source: https://x.com/HeyGarrison/status/2062891310109925430
54. “Partner fell asleep, then acted shocked when I declined his TS.”
Source: https://x.com/lizwessel/status/2062278680748155017
55. “20 minutes in, he stops me and says ‘you’re Nick Mehta, right?’”
Source: https://x.com/nrmehta/status/2062902167665803322
56. “The VC played on his tablet through my whole Zoom pitch”
Source: https://x.com/Zackary_Chapple/status/2063125670444859555
57. “VC committed $50k cash + $200k in services from his own companies”
Source: https://x.com/drbarnard/status/2063052800754409590
58. “Your father was a failure”
59. The VinodGate - a VC drama in 3 acts
Amongst hundreds of VC horror stories, one in particular stood out.
On June 5, Matthew Prince tweeted the following story.
Now, Matthew is not just any founder. He is the co-founder and CEO of CloudFlare, a cute little startup worth $80B+ on the NASDAQ.
Likewise, Vinod is not just any VC. He is the founding partner of Khosla Ventures, one of the most prominent VC firms in the industry with $15B+ under management.
Quite the matchup.
Vinod replied two days later and claim they never even offered to invest.
Thats'w here things got fun, because Matthew fired back with an actual screenshot of the term sheet from Khosla Ventures!
As the saying goes "he came with the receipts".
After that, X went crazy.
Some founders publicly came to Vinod's defense, while many others piled up against him.
If you have 10 minutes to waste, jump into that online cesspool.
Lots of fun. :)
Conclusion: don't take VC drama too seriously.
Hating on VCs is easy.
People love a good drama, especially when you're pitting the "little founder" against the "big bad VC".
It's also worth remembering that by design, a VC says no 99 times for 1 yes.
That's 99 people who may be out there, seeking revenge for no other reason than their poor emotional regulation.
And, let's be honest - not all founders are great either.
In a previous post, I shared real examples where unhinged founders lashed out at VCs just because they didn't enjoy getting rejected.
My personal experience interacting with 200+ VCs, angels, and family office people is that most are normal people. Sure, there are a few arrogant pricks walking among the rest, but it's the same everywhere.
Bottom line: VC horror stories are fun, but don't read too much into it.
VCs aren't monsters. You'll be fine.
