I would argue that often VC's can't smell a good or bad idea "a mile away". If they could, they would be seeing much better returns. That, I think, is why expanding the VC search once you have a few interested parties makes sense. Sometimes they want a piece of the pie, because everyone else says it tastes good.
Regarding the terms, it's just like anything else. If you can get better terms (terms that won't hinder you if you need to raise a series A) or get a deal with a firm that is more involved in your niche, through competition, you shouldn't settle for "agree"-ing, you should do the best for yourself that you can.
It seems like it makes sense, and they probably expect you to be shopping around to other VCs (why put all eggs in one basket). But as far as "is it dick to shop around once you have an offer?" I'm not sure, as I've never raised capital before. I'm curious how long a VC would give you before you've got to say yes to an offer. Like, can you take a month to "think about it" while going around and pitching other people? Will they know that's what you're doing?
from my experience, there are several VCs that actually can smell a good or bad idea "a mile away" and it usually works for them (at least by their returns).
But the main thing you need to consider is that most VCs that invest in an early stage do check your idea, but they care a lot more about you and your team (since your idea will probably change a few times during the process).
While it is acceptable to "shop around" when you are looking for funding, it usually doesn't look good if you start "shopping around" after starting a serious process (aka getting a term sheet) with a VC, unless you see a major gap between what they offered and what you think you need.
Most people tend to forget that this is a small world (and an even smaller industry) and if you try to "trick" someone, it might come back to hunt you in the future when you need another round of funding or even contacts.
About.me for dating + reward = profit. In all seriousness, I could see this becoming a model that, if done right, could be quite profitable for people looking for something to start.
That's a sweet idea, but there's a tipping point where the value of being the Nth+1 person on the service doesn't increase your chances of being noticed.
Now, make it a consulting service where people pay you $1000 $5,000 for website / online-marketing / PR services to help land a date? Add in scarcity? That's a cool idea.
Here's a problem I foresee: These groupon style sites do their business because these vendors make money due to the volume. Whether its return customers, or small margins adding together, or whatever, the whole reason vendors get involved is volume. So one question: will indy craftsfolk be able to handle the volume? If they get 1000 orders for their handmade leather wallet, seems like people will start to get pissed after month 2 of waiting.
absolutely agree. We not talking volumes of 1000's though. We're on the scale of 10-20. something your average crafter can accomplish (depending on the item of course) in a few days.
I don't know that we will put limits though. I mean, someone could print off 1000 paper bookmarks pretty easily.
In the end, our rating / award system should help drive sellers to not over commit. It's something we will have to deal with.
You're the 2nd or 3rd person to assume we're talking Groupon scale. I think we need to do a better job of indicating the scale we're targeting. :)
I am not an economist, but to me arguments 1,2 and therefore 5 seem specious. 3 and 4 hold water, but they are pretty self explanatory.
China's economy, to me, seems like a leverage play on the US. If the US economy seriously stagnates, China's economy will follow suit, and likely in a much more dramatic fashion. The opposite is also true, when the US consumers get to spending China (at least for now) stands to benefit tremendously.
For me, the best option if you are looking at foreign currencies, is to go buy a brazilian government bond and get 10% on your money in 3-5 years.
This phenomena was described to a t in Dan Ariely's The Upside of Irrationality. In it, he first describes a situation in which one would be paid a high salary (I think a million dollars) for creating power points that were immediately deleted. He asserts that most people would not be able to handle the job. To test, he does some interesting experiments wherein students are paid for assembling simple lego figures. If the figures were then disassembled in view of the student immediately after their completion, students on average, constructed far fewer figures. Worth a read.
Reminds me of some government work I've done. The worst case was when I wrote a best-practices manual for Java/database/security for their internal development, and it was basically taken in draft form, put in a big 3-ring binder, and put on a shelf to never be read by anyone. They paid a solid 5-figures for it, but more than anything it was a checklist item that could be signed-off in order to appease the auditors. "Yes, we did the required review and policy and procedure development".
If you're heavily in debt, you would stay. I know - I'm in a job that's not quite as bad as that, but it's far from rewarding, and extremely political, with other people taking the praise and few willing to do what's needed.
I would quit, but I have to work off my debt first.
The environment is not doing me good - I'm slacking off (like here at HN), working worse and feeling tired and burned out even when doing little actual work.
Why not try and find another job? In your situation I'd even make a lateral move to something I enjoyed.
Ultimately your current attitude will catch up with you could set your career back. Getting labeled as a slacker could result in you getting crappy projects where you can't grow professionally and personally. You'll become even more bitter/jaded and eventually hit a death spiral. Crappy projects <=> more bitter and jaded. It's very tough to get out of this death spiral once you're in it....
Thank you for your advice. I thought about that. I'm trying to get out in another way - I'm starting a Master's (MBA) :) and reducing my debt at the same time.
The thing is, here in Uruguay job security is king - if you switch jobs you're a kind of pariah for a couple of years (OTOH if I get fired it's like winning the lottery, about 6 to 8 salaries plus benefits plus 6 months unemployment which for my sector is very good).
So I have to endure another 2 years while I do the MBA - and it's very likely that I'll get a significantly better job offer while I'm doing the MBA due to connections - I'll try to network heavily on the MBA, it's my number one goal from it.
Ironically I haven't been labeled a slacker (and I used to be a top student and respected worker) - my boss is too incompetent to even realize I'm slacking. My projects can't get any crappier though (ever heard of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forte_4GL ? Not a marketable skill ).
I hope to either get into a project management / CTO position, or start my own company.
I know a few employers that basically cackle with glee when an employee buys a car or a house, because they now consider that they "Have them" no matter how low they keep their salary.
They're not nice people, suffice to say, and working for them is apparently no fun. Go figure.
This is rational behavior, because nobody works only for the money (unless you are a bank robber). If you're doing something that has no repercussions, then you're losing a lot of the additional value of your work.
Regardless of whether one believes HN should be a job board or not, if you do post a job, I would (personally) ask that you please post some idea about compensation/remote-working options.
Regarding the terms, it's just like anything else. If you can get better terms (terms that won't hinder you if you need to raise a series A) or get a deal with a firm that is more involved in your niche, through competition, you shouldn't settle for "agree"-ing, you should do the best for yourself that you can.