When a VC declines, always get back to them as fast as possible (yes, in this case, it makes no sense to let them wait) and show them last time for now what a strong founder you are with your reaction. The worst is when I send a decline and a founder tries to convince me to take my decline back–this will never happen. Don’t argue anymore. Also, don’t ask for random intros, especially not when the investor doesn’t know you well.

Sometimes, I send long decline messages and take the time to explain in detail my reasoning. I hate it when founders then don’t get back to me with a short thank you. Some don’t get back ever, even after we spent some substantial time together along the process–it seems I turned useless the moment I declined.

Leave the process with a strong impression and with honor. Here is an amazing example of such a reply from a founder that I just love:

Another example: When I told a founder team the reasons for my decline, I gave the CTO the feedback that he could work on being more succinct with his answers. He sent me later a very kind message, containing the following sentence:

“If you think at any point I can be helpful to you for an intro or want a technical (potentially non-succinct ) opinion on some opportunity just ping me”.

How amazing–he offered his help and took my feedback with humor. Loved it, too.