10 X – The associate at the prominent silicon valley venture capital firm once again looked at the visitor who had just come in, a cold call. His face was familiar. He had definitely seen him somewhere, perhaps even at many places.
He will know soon.
“What can I do for you, sir?” he asked the visitor, who was in his mid thirties, with long and bedraggled hair, a beard, and intelligent eyes that seemed to contain a certain amount of sorrow. His overall bearing reminded him of a simple pastoral chap.
“I have founded a startup and am looking for financial support”
Having been in Silicon Valley for a few years, the associate was not taken aback by the person’s appearance-aspiration combination. The Valley had seen all sorts of startup founders become successful, even people with long hair resembling pastoral chaps. As every junior investing professional was told multiple times, even Steve Jobs was a hippie for a while.
“What does your startup do, sir? Do you have an elevator pitch?”.
The man appeared not to have heard of the term but somehow figured it out quickly.
“Yes. In fact, my elevator pitch, as you call it, can be completed even before the elevator starts.”
The associate was impressed. That must be some pitch.
“My startup’s value proposition: To save humanity. End of elevator pitch”
The associate was, this time, taken aback. Not because it was the shortest elevator pitch he had listened to ever in his three year venture investing career, which it was, but because it was the very last thing that VCs wanted to hear from a startup – saving anything, let alone humanity. He was looking for a quick way to end the meeting and see off the prospect.
“Well, sir, you know, we usually invest in business ideas that have the potential to generate financial returns of 10X the investment within three years. Your business case appears like a long term thing, and revenue prospects appear quite uncertain.”
The visitor seemed to reflect a bit on this. Did the associate see a glint of exasperation in his eyes?
After briefly a closing his eyes – in which exasperation was succeeded by resolution just before they closed – the visitor said: “Son, I perhaps should have introduced myself. I’m Jesus Christ.”
The associate had a distinct transformation in his demeanour. He now realized where he had seen him
Jesus, how could he have missed it. Christ!
“That changes everything, Mr. Christ,” he said, for a moment uncertain how to address Jesus, and taking refuge in professional template
Jesus, who had become sad when the associate was focussed on just money, was now more optimistic. If even venture capitalists – whom he had heard being talked about in such glowing terms as vulture capitalists and puncture capitalists – were willing to be charitable once they had understood the noble purpose behind an effort, all was not lost for humanity.
The associate, after looking at Jesus for a brief moment, said, “We can make it 8X in your special case”
See my LinkedIn post on this topic
