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Pinterest's Founder Got Rejected by VCs Who Invented Yahoo. He Built a $40B Company Anyway.

By Ben Silbermann · Investing · 1 min read

Every VC has trophies on the wall. But the deals they passed on are the ones that haunt them.

Key Points

VCs have great track records -- and terrible miss rates
The future is unwritten. If investors knew what works, they'd be done.
Assess advice for yourself. Don't take it on face just because someone has credentials.

For all the millions of dollars venture capital investors have made, for all the certificates on the wall, there are things that they passed on. And those are the things that actually burn them up.

The Trophies and the Regrets

Ben Silbermann walked into VC offices with Google's first stock certificate on the wall. These people invented Yahoo. They were really, really smart.

But Silbermann reminded himself of something: look at the returns on venture capital. Pretty shaky. High volatility industry.

If they knew, they would be done.

Advice Is Not Truth

Silbermann: "People can tell you that you should be more technical. They can tell you that you're in the wrong market. They can tell you all of these things. And those things might be true and you should assess them for yourself. But you shouldn't take it on face because they could be wrong."

The future is unwritten. That was the line Silbermann kept telling himself. Nobody knows what's coming. Not even the smartest investors in Silicon Valley.

Fundamentally the future is unwritten. If they knew, they would be done.

The Deals That Haunt Them

Silbermann: "For all the millions of dollars venture capital investors have made, for all the certificates on the wall, there are things that they passed on. And those are the things that actually burn them up. Those are the ones that haunt them at night."

If you can convince somebody that you just might be the one who beats the odds, you can be successful. That attitude works for recruiting, fundraising, and pushing through on your product.

Those are the things that actually burn them up. Those are the ones that haunt them at night.