I got a chance to spend some time with well known VC blogger Peter Rip down in the San Fran area yesterday. In fairness, there were others in the room too but I follow Peter’s blog so I was interested to meet the guy. If you don’t follow his blog you should because he really takes the time to write thoughtful (sometimes lengthy) posts about raising capital, the art of the deal and business models in general. Some of you might also know that he is a board member and original investor in Riya. I found everyone in the room to be pleasant…even fun to pitch too. What made Peter fun is that he’s actually a PHENOMENAL photographer and he thus seemed to at least appreciate what we’ve managed to build at Imagekind.com. Maybe he’s got another blog somewhere where he shares his enthusiasm and ability for taking pictures but I haven’t seen it. There is no mention of his personal interests on his Early Stage VC blog. This got me thinking about something. I wish more VC’s would share their personal interests! As entrepreneurs, we’d know what they like, what kind of people they are, what kind of questions they are going to care about.
For me, people’s hobbies and personal interests tell me a lot about who they are. Are they creative? Will me make good partners? Are they into sports? Which ones? Niche sports? Mainstream sports? Do they like boats? Planes? Cars? Travel? Are they skiers? Or snowboarders? I often find myself relating to people based more on their interests than what they do at their job. And it’s just plain interesting to learn more about people via their personal interests. If you’re out there raising money, consider trying to learn more about the people you’re talking too. Even if they don’t give you money you might find a common bond that gives you a little inspiration…and maybe a new friend.
