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Ben Horowitz Says the Biggest Mistake in a VC Pitch Is Playing It Safe

By Ben Horowitz · Investing · 1 min read

The fact that you care what I like makes me not like you.

Key Points

Founders water down their plans to appeal to VCs — this signals a lack of courage
A conservative plan that doesn't match the stated opportunity is a plan to fail
Courage is not the absence of fear — the hero and the coward feel the exact same thing

The fact that you care what I like makes me not like you.

The Plan to Fail

Horowitz: "The big mistake people make is they try to appeal too much to the venture capitalist. They'll put a plan in, here's our plan for the next two years, and I'll look at the financial plan and say, if everything you told me before is true, then isn't this like a plan to fail?"

Horowitz: "If you look at the market size and the product and when it's going to hit — if all that's true, then this plan is like a tenth the size of what it should be."

If everything you told me is true, then isn't this like a plan to fail?

The People-Pleasing Instinct

Horowitz: "They say, 'Yeah, but we thought you wanted to hear this because we know VCs like conservatism.' And I'm like — the fact that you care what I like makes me not like you."

Horowitz: "That may not be a mistake with some other VCs. But for me, because courage is such an important thing, anything that shows a lack of conviction or courage or belief in what you're doing is what always ends up worrying me."

The fact that you care what I like makes me not like you.

The Courage Test

Horowitz: "I was sweating bullets when I was CEO. My guts were boiling. I was up at 2 o'clock in the morning. So courage is not that you don't feel fear. You feel it fully."

Horowitz: "There's this great line — the difference between a hero and a coward isn't what they feel. They feel the exact same thing. It's what they do. We're looking for people who feel the fear fully but then somehow find a way to do the right thing, the courage thing, the hard thing."

The difference between a hero and a coward isn't what they feel. They feel the exact same thing. It's what they do.

Either You Believe It or You Don't

Horowitz: "Either you believe it or you don't. Either you're committed or you're not. Either you have the courage to build the company or you don't."

It is a high bar. Horowitz knows it. But the pitch is where he finds out which one you are.

Either you believe it or you don't. Either you're committed or you're not. Either you have the courage to build the company or you don't.