VC Cliché of the Week

One of the scariest phrases/clichés I hear in board meetings and conversations among VCs is “we need a suit to run this company” or its cousin “we need a suit to take this company public”. It is so scary because so many suits are empty.

All it takes is one company destroyed by an empty suit to make you realize that it’s what is in the head and the heart that matters not what kind of clothes the person wears.

This is going to be more of a rant than the traditional VC Cliché of the Week post where I try to dole out some anecdotes and advice. I just need to get this off my chest.

I was invited to attend a conference at which three of my portfolio companies were presenting earlier this month. I showed up at the door to the private club where the conference was being hosted only to find that I could not come in without a jacket and tie on. I had a very nice pair of conservative looking slacks on and a blue collared business shirt. It was your basic business outfit. I wasn’t wearing jeans and a ripped t-shirt or anything.

But that wasn’t enough for this club. They offered to let me borrow a jacket and tie from the front desk. I declined on principal. I am not going to put on a borrowed monkey suit on for anyone.

Had I known that I needed to wear a suit, I would have gladly put one on in the morning. But the insanity of the situation caused me to bolt from that place. I have nothing against suits and I almost always wear them when I am presenting or attending a formal affair. I actually enjoy knotting the tie, putting on the fancy shirt, maybe donning a pair of cufflinks. It’s fun getting dressed up.

But it’s not fun getting dressed up in a borrowed suit jacket that doesn’t fit and a stained tie just because someone thinks that’s how I should look. No thanks.

And hiring someone to do the critical job of leading a company, motivating the team, navigating the treacherous waters, making the really hard decisions, based on what they look like and how they dress is silly. But what is even more silly is that many people still do that. They care what school the person went to, they care about the person’s sex, the person’s skin color, the person’s facial hair.

Not me. I care about the results, the character, the drive, the passion, the experience, and the commitment. If they wear a suit, that’s fine with me. As long as its not empty.

Comments

[jackson]

Give me some time, I'll find a way to blame the President for this outrage.

[Peter Cranstone]

Excellent observation. On my previous startup I added very experienced suits to the team believing that this would look good to the customers and the VC's. I learned the hard way, suits with so much experience running large corporations (which move incredibly slowly) have problems moving at the speed of a startup. As a comparison, I just started my 4th venture. We formed the company on January 3rd, had all legal docs signed and completed in 14 days, had our first working piece of code in 3 days and are currently on track for our first working alpha on Feb 14th. Customer deployment is targeted in March. The suits would still be talking about it - all we do now is execute and deliver value to the customer and then of course the next important milestone, sustainable (profitable) revenue. It's interesting to note that this website uses content acceleration tecnology that my partner and I invented 5 years ago.

[hank williams]

Its funny but I suspect the percentage of VCs who follow the "suit" theory is about equivalent to the percentage that would deny it.

[Jeffrey McManus]

You are my hero for posting this.

[Andrew Fife]

This post isn't totally clear. I find it hard to believe that any rational person would actually be hiring because the person looks good in a suit. If that is the case why not just hire a model for a ceremonial position. Yet, this is kind of what your post suggests that people want someone who looks right. Surely the suit comment is a metaphor for someone with experience that can lead and build trust with customers, analysts and investors. What is wrong with that? The more interesting issue is why is this so difficult and how do you successfully bring in experienced management when a startup out grows its founding team? Is it better to bring in a serial entrepreneur or a senior exec from a Fortune 500? I'd love to learn about your expereiences with these types of transplants.

[Andy Wilhem]

Hear, Hear!

I would have done the same. People who only see in black in white are a problem.

(they would let the guy in the leopard skin tuxedo and naked women on his tie - hardly what they 'meant' when they said 'tie and jacket').

[Robert J. Berger]

Don't know if its just an Urban Legend, but I've been told that in the old original AT&T they had statistical proof that guys wearing 42L suit jackets made the best executives.