Both customers and clients kept telling us that we should move to the bay if we're serious about this company. They have a point: we have about as many clients there, as everywhere else combined. But I had to explain that moving to the bay is not an option for me; Rachel's reaction ranges from "No" to "Hell, no." Probably we will either hire people there, or Matt will move.
We did several pitches to VCs, talked to a lot of clients, potential clients, advisors, and other users of Cassandra, and Friday I did a full day of training. (145 slides, a ton of whiteboarding, some live demos, eight hours to the minute.) I had very little time to type, so I'm terribly behind on code and reviews, but on the bright side my wrists feel terrific.
We're definitely at the point in our pitching that our slide deck is more a hindrance than a help. It would flow better to just whiteboard for an hour. Or, I suppose we could redo the deck but the time to do that has been in short supply. Still, I think it went well on balance, although as Josh said, "Until they give you a term sheet, it's all up to them. You're the girl, and you are waiting to be asked to the dance."
I got some good stories out of this trip, too. Like the lunch with a hotshot 27-year-old executive I will call S:
S: We totally got lucky hiring P. His old boss even called to congratulate me. P is awesome, even if he's kind of reached a plateau in his career. You know, married, kids, goes home at five every day...After pitching VC X one morning, we had VC Y scheduled later in the day. We hadn't realized they had offices in the same compound, but I had to deal with a client while Matt took the VC Y meeting, so I went to the lobby in the first building to plug in. While I was there, one of the partners from VC X came down the stairs on his way out (it was past 5:00) and saw me. "You're back?" "Well, Matt had a ... meeting, so I came over here while he did that." Awkward.
Me: Yeah, he's probably in his thirties.
S: Yes, I think he is.
After another pitch, Matt wanted to talk in the car on the way to our next appointment:
Matt: Dude, the women in that office were smokin'.Finally, we had a dinner with the Riptano team last night.
Me: What are you talking about? They've all been hot.
Matt: Yes, but these were especially hot. The blonde in particular.
Me: I guess now that I'm married I don't pay attention to the fine distinctions the way I used to.
Matt: You know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone argue with Ellis as much as Ben does. It's kind of fun to watch.
Matt D: Jonathan has a lot of strong opinions. Some of them are bound to be wrong.
Paul: Jonathan? Opinionated? I've never heard that before.
2 comments:
Wow Ellis is part of your time. A VC has got to give you tons of money. You guys are an unstoppable team. I had no idea hot girls went into the computer industry. I should have gotten a CS degree.
Matt calls people by their last name a lot. It's an idiosyncrasy of his.
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