time. Mentor. Communication network. truth.
I omitted it because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Recent experiences have given me a glimpse into the landscape of an entrepreneurial adventure. Let’s go meet the animals of Pampa.
There are also venture capitalists. These are some of the larger animals and are very difficult to catch. They often travel in groups. They are looking for a very large watering hole. When they reach the watering hole, the small animals move aside. They have big feet and invest “other people’s money”.
Next are angel investors. They are active at the edges of watering holes. They invest from their own money or from a trust fund. (When I first arrived in San Diego, I was surprised by the number of people I met who had seemingly no work but seemingly unlimited income.) see.
Then there’s the entrepreneur. They ended up in the Pampas either by mistake (taking the wrong bus) or by intentionally leaving their homes to find their own watering hole.
Finally, a mentor. This animal is looking for people who are looking for a watering hole. This animal thinks it knows where the watering hole is, but it’s not very familiar with maps. In Hollywood, a map to the star’s home costs him $34.95. There is no free lunch.
Well, I recently spent some time in the Pampas. I met someone who became my mentor. He came to my office and critiqued my latest half-baked idea. I thanked him. A few days later, he asked me to come pitch his idea. I agreed to listen. After all, this is the classic reciprocity syndrome. But I got whipsawed. No way, he just wanted to come back and ask me for a job.
Mom doesn’t like bait and switch. Water holes dry quickly.
After that, I participated in a startup panel. There are no women. There’s a new rule. There are no women or me. The United Nations recently held its annual conference to promote equality for women and girls, and the first five speakers were men. Please take a break.
Next, I conducted another mentoring activity with 40 entrepreneurs. Hey! But one ball caught me. Other leaders gave him very low scores. I gave him the best. His ideas were right in my wheelhouse. Healthcare and AI.
If your idea is rejected as a result, consider the possibility that your listeners don’t understand your space. Honestly, some angels might turn away from their waterhole, even if it’s bubbling up like the bubbles in Don Julio 1942.
In 2010, CRISPR is a breakthrough technology discovered at Berkeley. The university could not obtain a patent. I missed that watering hole. It is precisely these stories (there are hundreds of them) that keep entrepreneurs going. After all, one person’s swamp is another person’s Lake Michigan.
I receive several email pitches each week. If you’re interested, I’ll thank you and ask you to send me your deck. Interesting fact. Very few people send their own decks. And there’s no phone number in the email signature. I understand that the idea of a phone number is novel, but we’re not using rotary dials yet.
I love Adam Grant. He recently wrote about the phrase “I owe you” when people want to thank him for his generous spirit. No, it’s not. Grant (and I myself sometimes hope so) does this because he is a giver. He argues that you need to be the “receiver.” Just be grateful. Not all interactions are transactional. Life is not a zero-sum game.
Finally, I received an offer to invest in an “AI startup mentoring service that provides customized advice” aimed at helping other startups. Talk about original ideas. The founder is his second year student at Yale University, and his team is made up of eight other elite young men.
Perhaps they have overhead drones to find drinking fountains. After all, these bodies of water don’t usually show up on Google Maps, but don’t be arrogant, Neil. I’m always reminded that what kills you is what you don’t know, what you don’t know. I asked him to send me the deck.
No.802: Find your own pampa.
Senturia is a serial entrepreneur who invests in startups.Email your ideas neil@unicornhunter.ai.
