错误的投资人真的可以搞砸一个创业企业。愚蠢的问题、事无巨细掺和及控制、猪脑一样地坚持错误的战略、招募无能的管理团队、口臭、等等，可以罗列一大堆。如果你是一个创业者，并且准备向VC融资，那么你应该在接受某家VC的投资之前，要尽可能多地了解这个VC的情况。最简单的方法就是跟哪些已经接受过这家VC投资的创业者们聊一聊，这也不是很困难的事，大部分VC也能够理解。
让VC给你推荐一些他们已经投资过的创业者
你需要一个诚实的、创业者之间的交流。目的是确保这个VC是那种你愿意他们在未来的5年以上时间跟你的公司保持密切关系的VC>。他们值得信赖吗？他们会积极帮助公司吗？他们善于倾听吗？他们容易相处吗？还有一个非常重要的是，他们愚蠢吗？我觉得每个创业者应该向那些已经融资成功的人咨询下面这些问题：
- 投资人对公司问题的响应如何
- 除了资金之外，他们还提供什么帮助
- 他们介入公司业务的程度>
- 他们会为董事会做准备吗
- 他们会给公司做些有帮助的推荐吗（客户、潜在团队成员、其他融资途径、等）
- 他们的退出时间要求对你是否公开
- 如果你从头来过，你是否还愿意接受这个投资人的钱
我相信肯定有人在融资之前已经这么做过，我也想听听他们还问过什么问题，学到过哪些！
原文：
Reverse due diligence - Making sure your VC isn't a dolt (or worse)
by Healy Jones
The wrong investor can really traumatize a startup's growth trajectory. Stupid questions, micro-managing/backs-seat driving, pig-headed insistence on the wrong strategy, forcing bad executives on the company, halitosis - it's a pretty long list. If you are a startup founder about to take on venture capital financing you should want to know everything you can about your funding venture capitalist prior to accepting an investment. One of the most basic tests you want to conduct is to speak with some of the other founders who have worked with the VC. This isn't that hard - most VCs will expect this question.
Ask for introductions to founders who have taken capital from the venture capitalist
You'll want to have an honest, founder-a-founder conversation. Your goal is to make sure that they venture capitalist is someone who you want intimately involved with your company for the next five+ years. Are they trustworthy, do they actively try to help the business, do they listen well, are they approachable and very importantly, are they NOT jerks.
Prasad has begun this phase of the fund raising process. I'm hoping he will have some insights to share on some of the conversations that he's started to have. However, I think the basic questions that every founder should want to be able to ask other people who have taken the investor's money are:
- How responsive is the investor
- What help, beyond financial, do they provide
- How involved do they get with your business - try to keep this open ended so you don't lead the other founder to the answer you want to hear. One founders "very helpful" could be another's "smothering."
- Do they prepare for board meetings
- Do they make helpful introductions (customers, potential members of the team, other funding sources)
- Have they been transparent with their time frame to exit
- If you had to do it all over again, would you accept money from this investor
I am sure that other people have had successful conversations like this in the past and I'd love to hear what was asked and what was learned!
