谁有时间开会？Who has time for meetings?
很多创业者以为，与投资人接触的第一步就是坚持要一次会面。但可以比较有把握地假设：买方阵营的任何人（投资人、广告主、大公司高管）收到的会面请求都远超他们能应付的数量，他们总是在找借口说“不”。
同步活动——电话、录屏、视频和 Webex 会议——几乎同样糟糕。如果你想引起某位投资人或大公司高管的注意，又不想浪费彼此的时间，那就非常、非常仔细地掂量他们时间的成本，这样你会做得更好。按照升级的顺序，应该依次这样做：
– 引荐——让引荐人给对方发一封电子邮件，不要把您放在收件人或抄送栏里。这样，如果目标对象不想打交道，你也不会让他们陷入不得不找借口或拒绝的尴尬境地。引荐人以此保护自己日后说话有人听的信誉。
– 一旦你得到回复/对方表现出兴趣，就发一份书面材料给对方过目，并把电话、Webex 或会面列为下一步选项。书面材料永远胜过视频或录屏，因为大多数聪明人阅读的速度远快于听讲。Webex 演示是一根拐杖——如果你的产品还需要解释，它很可能还没准备好面向普通消费者。如果产品还在测试阶段，你至少应该知道如何打开一个受密码保护的演示版本。
– 如果目标对象表现出进一步了解的兴趣，那么你可以进入电话或面对面会面环节。
那些一上来就坚持要 Webex 演示或面对面会面的人，是在逼目标对象做一个高成本的决策，同时也在隐约暗示：他们不珍惜自己的时间，当然更不珍惜目标对象的时间。他们可能以为自己是在展示执着，但人们想看到的是对产品本身的执着，而不是对死胡同的执着。
总之，你的高价值目标没有时间参加未经筛选的双方之间的会面，而你正忙于打造公司，也不该有时间为这种事浪费。
A lot of entrepreneurs assume that the initial way to engage with an investor is to *insist* on a meeting. It’s a relatively safe assumption that anyone on the buy side (an investor, an advertiser, an executive at a large company) receives far more requests for meetings than they can follow up on, and are constantly looking for excuses to say “no.”
Synchronous activities, such as phone calls, screencasts, videos, and webex conferences are almost as bad. If you’re trying to get the attention of an investor or exec at a major company, and don’t want to waste either your time or their time, pay very, very close attention to the cost of their time and you’ll fare better. In order of escalation, one should proceed as follows:
– Introduction – have your introducer send them an email *without putting you in the to or cc line.* That way, if the target does not wish to engage, you haven’t put them in the awkward position of having to supply an excuse or a turndown. The introducer protects their ability to be taken seriously this way.
– Once you have a response / interest, send something written for them to look over and offer a phone call, webex, or meeting as next steps. Written always beats a video or screencast, since most intelligent people can read a lot faster than they can listen. A webex demo is a crutch – if your product has to be explained, it probably isn’t ready for the average consumer. And if it’s in beta, you should at least know how to open up a password-protected demo version.
– If the target displays interest in learning more, then you can move to a call or in-person meeting.
People who insist on a webex demo or in-person meeting at the outset are forcing the target to make a high-cost decision, and are subtly signaling that they don’t value their own time, and certainly don’t value the targets’ time. They might think that they are demonstrating persistence, but one wants to see persistence in chasing the product, not in chasing dead-ends.
In short, your high-value targets don’t have time for meetings between un-screened parties, and since you’re busy building a company, you shouldn’t have time for them either.