52 Bicycles

I am finding that there is an ever-increasing density of service providers at startup events. I think some presence by this segment is OK, as many of them can provide a reasonable benefit in the form of expertise that many startups require. But I am also seeing semi-sleazy behavior:

1. Service Providers Posing as Angel Investors (as mentioned by Andrew Fife)
2. Suggesting - implicitly or explicitly - better links to venture capital as a result of using their service (sometimes is possible, but better to pick on the basis of what they do, rather than ideas about who they might know outside of their core domain).

VC is what a lot of entrepreneurs think they need, and the bevy of service providers nurture that view - both to be paid in helping to find the capital, and in having entrepreneurs with cash to pay their consulting rates.

The whole situation bothers me a little, as I believe that the quest for VC dooms many startups by keeping them from getting in the game and generating revenue.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Technology Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. Reddit This