It’s Not What I Say But How I Say It

I was reminded yesterday by a portfolio company founder that my communication delivery can be improved. Of course, my ego would normally fight back on something, but it is not the first time I heard this complaint from a founder.

The last time it happened was with one of my favorite CEO’s Mike Kovarik of Attribytes. I kept riding him to get an up-to-date pro forma as we were operating without a board-approved budget after financing the Series A. It was around the holiday season, so it wasn’t easy to get the coordination needed. We ended up locking horns on the issue.

It never feels good to have the founder investor relationship go contentious, so I circled back with him a day later to talk. I called out the obvious and stated what I could do to communicate with him better. He told me, and it wasn’t much of an ask. We had a great board relationship after that and exited last year with a strong return.

The long and short of it is that when I am confronting an issue surrounding the company, I need to give the founder time to digest the information I am presenting on their time. They have a lot going on, and my rapid-firing info at them can be off putting.

Now I am in the same spot again, but I can recover quicker and move to a more productive relationship in the future.