Sam Corcos: Why Founders Should Take as Many VC Meetings as Possible | E1093

Do you agree with Vinod Khosla that 90% of VCs actually detract value?

It's a little bit challenging because when you're fundraising, you're a prophet, not a missionary. You have the vision and you're trying to get people who already get it. You're not trying to convert people to your religion. I think one of the major mistakes that people make early on is they treat investor contacts like precious gems. The reality is that-

What was the best first investor meeting that you had?

I think the best we had was with-

Sam, I am so excited for this. I was just running on the treadmill. I was listening to you and Tim Ferriss, and it was the worst episode to listen to running on a treadmill because I was constantly typing notes, which is a great sign. But thank you so much for joining me first.

Glad to be here.

Now, I would love to start with a little bit of background. I always find actually what people wanted to be when they were younger very informative. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

My first real memory was I wanted to be a scientist. I was fascinated by biology and oncology, so I think it was a research scientist.

(laughs) Well, you know, there's still time. There's always a second chapter, Sam.

Yeah. (laughs)

Um, were your parents pushing you to be a doctor? You're not an Asian child and so I don't think they were like beating you to either be an engineer or a doctor. (laughs)

Yeah, well, I- I do have Jewish parents, so doctor or lawyer were the- the default two choices. (laughs)

I- I- I've learned, you know what? We can only, uh, we can only disappoint parents. Um, but I wanna start with a story that Vinay at, uh, Loom told me.

Uh-huh.

And he said that, uh, he encountered you one day in the street when you weren't with a home base, we should say. And, uh, you asked him if you could stay the night.

Yeah. (laughs)

Can you talk about that story, Sam?

Yeah. I- it's, uh, from the perspective of Tom, who was, uh, on our growth team. I had just landed in New York to spend some time with him and other people, and he asked me where I was staying, and I said, "I don't know. That's a, that's a, like, multiple hours from now problem." And he said, "Well, what- what do you think is gonna happen? Like what normally happens in these situations?" And I said, "You know, I'll run into a friend and then I can stay with them. Worst case, I get a hotel." And then about 30 minutes later, I bumped into Vinay walking through Washington Square Park. He mentioned he had just arrived. He had an extra bedroom in his Airbnb. I asked him if I could stay there, and that was it. And Tom, I think, is absolutely convinced that I staged that whole situation. (laughs)