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This is a series of articles published by Kai Fu Lee. I did the translation after graduation from university in summer to learn more about the technology trend and practise my translation skill.

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Translation of Kaifu Lee’s post on LinkedIn - Five Reasons a VC Didn’t Back You

李开复LinkedIn文章翻译之六 - VC不挺你的五个原因

You are an entrepreneur who wants to find and win over a venture capitalist (VC) or an angel to give your idea a financial boost. Yet many entrepreneurs make basic mistakes in that first meeting. Here are five mistakes to avoid:

你是一个想要找到并赢得风险或天使投资来给你的想法资金支持的创业者。然而，很多创业者在第一次见面中就会犯很多低级错误。这里有五种需要避免的错误：

Cold call instead of trusted introduction

联系完全陌生的风投而不是找可信的介绍

A common belief among VCs is that “if a CEO isn’t resourceful enough to find someone I know to recommend him to me, then he isn’t going to make a very good CEO.” Don’t blind email – I have never funded a company based on blind mail

VC们中流传着的一个普遍看法是“如果一个CEO连找到某个我认识的人来把他推荐给我的资源都没有，那么他不会是一个很好的CEO。”不要盲目地发邮件 - 我从未投资过一家盲目发邮件的公司。

Went to VC without preparation

没有准备就去找VC

You should study the VC meticulously before the first meeting. What’s his background? What other companies has he funded? What are the common elements that you might try to demonstrate and leave a positive impression?

在第一次见面之前你应该先一丝不苟地研究要见的风投。他的背景？他投资了哪些公司？你可能要尝试通过哪些共同的元素来证明自己并留下一个积极的印象？

Poor communication

沟通不力

You need to communicate succinctly. Start with the one sentence that describes your company. Be prepared to succinctly talk about: How large is the market? Who are the competitors? How are you differentiated? What makes your team special?

你需要简洁地沟通。以一句话描述你的公司作为开头。做好简单地谈论以下问题的准备：市场有多大？有哪些竞争者？你和他们有哪些差异？你的团队有什么特殊的地方？

Too much time on market and not enough time on product and team

花太多时间在市场上，在产品和队伍上却花的时间不足

Don’t spend too much time on market overview or opportunity. The VC probably knows that better than you, and even if he doesn’t, he would probably make up his mind after just a short description. Save your time for your product and your team, which he doesn’t know.

不要花太多时间在市场的概览或机会上。风投很可能比你了解得更多，就算他了解的没你多，他也很可能在很短的描述之后就已经做出了决定。为你的产品和团队多留些时间，这才是他不知道的。

Argue in the first meeting

第一次见面就争论

You are not going to convince a VC that she was wrong about something in a first meeting. Of course, also avoid being a push-over and agree with everything the VC says. If you get stuck on a point, move on to another point. Focus on the positives of your company.

你不可能第一次见面就让风投相信她哪个地方犯了错。当然，也别当个很好欺负的人同意VC说的一切。如果你哪个点卡住了，继续说下个点就行了。聚焦到你公司的积极的地方。