I hope that this post will be helpful to you as you prepare to meet with a venture capital firm’s EIR. This is the second of three posts about entrepreneurs in residence at venture capital funds and how you might interact with them during your VC financing process. The first is a general introduction to the concept of an entrepreneur in residence and the third will be some tips for your interactions with an EIR.
Preparing to meet with an EIR
The better your discussion with the entrepreneur in residence goes, the better your chances at raising venture capital. Here are some things to prepare before your meeting:
- Research the EIR’s background. By knowing their bio/background you can get a feel for the lens they will use to think about your business. They might have something knowledgeable to say about some aspect of your startup or have some connections that could be useful to you. Try to take advantage of this. Also see if you can understand where they had difficulty, as they may attack similar parts of your business plan.
- Figure out how the EIR could fit into your startup. Remember that the EIR’s primary goal is likely to be finding a company to run. Assuming that there was a good fit with your startup, what role would you like to have them in? Get ready to ask questions around this particular function (at the right times during your discussion)… you may get some good advice and they will get to show off their experiences.
- Search for shared connections with the EIR. Use Linkedin to see if you have common connections with the EIR. Starting off the conversation with “hey, we both used to work with Sally and she says great things about you,” can really get the ball rolling in the right direction. However, make sure your common connection will say positive things about you! Since VCs are always looking for off the record endorsements/opinions on teams they are considering mentioning these types of potential positive, highly trusted references could really help you raise capital. If the EIR trusts Sally and she says that you are amazing you have just done yourself a huge favor.
- Search for connections that you’d LIKE to have. Can the entrepreneur in residence introduce you to someone with whom you’d like to have a conversation? Was a one of your potential customers a customer of the EIR’s last company? Do they know someone you’d like to have on your advisory board? Would their former VP of sales be a great addition to your team? Do some research on this before, again using Linkedin and by trying to learn as much as possible about their previous company. At the appropriate times in your meeting with the EIR ask for these introductions or other ideas that might work for you.
- Establish in advance the major point behind the meeting with the EIR. If the EIR is tagging along with the VC to an initial meeting then it is likely that the EIR play the role of yet another VC-type in the room. If this is a follow up meeting after an initial meeting with the VC then there is a chance the VC is looking to the EIR to answer a particular set of questions. This could be technical diligence, understanding the marketing plan, discussion the overall market need… knowing what is to be addressed in advance will really help you be ready for the discussion.
Preparing for your meeting with a venture capital fund’s EIR is critical, especially if this is a follow up meeting after you’ve already met with a partner at the fund.
Tomorrow I will post the final post on EIRs on best practices when interacting with a VC’s EIR.
Also, you may find this post by an entrepreneur in residence about what the an EIR does interesting.
