Joe Procopio

By Joe Procopio

I’m an entrepreneur and I also consult to entrepreneurs. This kind of consulting is so much fun that I can’t even put it into words. It’s inspiramindblowingtastic. And although the questions I purport to answer are mostly along the lines of “how do I build this?”, I also get a lot of “how do I fund this?”

I like those questions, but the answer I give usually isn’t the smile-producing kind. This is because the answer isn’t what people want to hear. What people want to hear is: “Call this guy. Give him the secret handshake. Sign the term sheet.”

How to Get Rich in Two Easy Steps

What I usually tell them is: “Build something everybody has to have then prove to everyone you know who has money how they can invest that money in your thing and make a substantial return on their money.”

“Also hard work.”

Rich Uncle Moneybags

Most entrepreneurs are ready for hard work, and the ones that aren’t usually abandon the fancy business cards and the WordPress site and return to the cubicle from whence they came. The problem is that most entrepreneurs don’t know a whole lot of people with a whole lot of money.

If you are indeed that fortunate breed of entrepreneur, then Godspeed – go build that airline to the moon.

As for the rest of you, you’re going to have to hustle.

The Hustler

In working with what is now dozens of startups, I’ve attempted to beat down so many doors that I’m like a thief on a safe with a stethoscope and those cool fingerless gloves.

“Oh, what’s that? A Protex-A-Lot 5000? Give me 30 seconds.”

People like me are described as, for lack of a more professional label, hustlers. Keep in mind though, this is not the kind of hustler like the kids talk about today with their Iced-T and their OGs. I’m talking more along the lines of, say, Pete “Charlie Hustle” Rose.

Oddly enough, I too like to bet on sports.

My Lock of the Week

Jason Caplain doesn’t hesitate to talk to those who hustle. He’s a General Partner with  Southern Capitol Ventures, a just-turned-ten-years-old VC firm behind companies like Motricity, ChannelAdvisor, ReverbNation, eTix, Zift Solutions, Artus Labs, and so on and so on.

Jason Caplain

Jason talks to me not because of my awesome haircut or penchant to buy the first round, it’s because he’ll talk to anyone who will bust down any door in order to get to someone who will listen or help or point them in the right direction.

However, a lot of entrepreneurs aren’t the door-busting type. They’re the brilliant artist geniuses who are too busy coding and working to get their story out.

Calling All Entrepreneurs

So it became good business for Jason to reach out to them. Southern Capitol started doing this years ago with Calling All Entrepreneurs, an open-to-all, one-on-one ten-minute quick pitch and Q&A that they held in Raleigh as well as in Charlotte, Greensboro, Atlanta, Northern VA, and Baltimore.

They’d hear up to 30 companies in a single day and more than once held sessions until midnight in a hotel lobby.

It was tough for the entrepreneur to get their idea compacted into those 10 minutes, so they added coffee and expanded the blocks to 30 minutes. But they soon discovered that, beyond the initial relationship with the entrepreneur, the overall effectiveness of the sessions began to wane after a while.

Entrepreneur’s Breakfast

So why not have an entire meal, skip the pitch, and turn it into a group discussion?

Bingo.

This became the Entrepreneur’s Breakfast which Southern Capitol has now held in all of their target markets. The structured pitch is gone, replaced by a group discussion of whatever the entrepreneurs are interested in. It’s not always about the money – there’s prospects, customers, product, other employees, other relationships that need to be built.

Plus, now the entrepreneurs build relationships not just with Southern Capitol, but also with the other entrepreneurs in the room, who sometimes have best advice. There have even been a couple of occasions where people have met at the breakfast and gone on to found new companies together.

Hustlermaker

The breakfasts serve to make Southern Capitol more accessible, and also help to clear up a lot of the myths and misunderstandings about VCs. They don’t all wear top hats and monocles, for instance. This in turn sends a lot of entrepreneurs into second gear.

See, once you know the water isn’t full of sharks, it’s a hell of a lot easier to jump in.

So why is this creation of doorbusters a necessary thing? Because the VCs aren’t exactly flocking to the RTP in search of the next Twitter. Yet. Jason says that he and his partner David Jones have never been to a board meeting where they haven’t booked additional meetings with entrepreneurs in the same location. That isn’t being reciprocated here.

Coffee is for Closers

That’s because the investors are customers, and they don’t know what kind of product is here. And that’s because the salespeople here aren’t out there selling – building and managing those key relationships.

Look. I’m not a salesguy, but I know when I need to be. The same is true for any startup. You’re not only selling a product, but if you’re raising money, you’re selling equity in the company. This isn’t even a metaphor, so I won’t extend it.

Except to say that smart entrepreneurs know that they’re selling $5 bills for a dollar.

VC Secrets Revealed

So why would Jason want this out there for his VC kindred to replicate, and potentially steal all those golden opportunities out from under him?

It doesn’t work like that.

Again, it’s about relationships. The more successful investors and therefore the more successful startups that are coming here, or better yet, located here, the higher the exponential on the overall return. Novak Biddle, Valhalla, Noro-Moseley and others are stopping by regularly for board meetings.

They should be on your list of VCs.

Bust a Door

Jason suggests the Price Waterhouse-Coopers Money Tree report as a starting point. Build a list of VCs whose criteria matches your startup (this is crucial, don’t get a reputation for wasting people’s time).

But don’t be afraid to check in with the ones that come here for board meetings, let them know who you are and what your company does, and offer to maybe meet them at the airport. The VCs aren’t flocking, but they are actively looking, a lot of entrepreneurs don’t understand the difference.

The difference is you’ve got to be visible.

Coffee, Bagel, Million-Dollar Advice

And that starts with building your network.  Upcoming Entrepreneur’s Breakfasts will be held in Raleigh on January 31^st and February 28^th. Remember, they’re strictly for entrepreneurs (no service providers), but are indeed open to everyone.

Make sure you give Jason the secret handshake when you get there.

Jason and Southern Capitol will also be hosting the Venture Outlook 2011 with panelists Tom McMurray, formerly of Sequoia (current angel), Hooks Johnston from Valhalla, John Burke from True Ventures, and Matthew Witheiler from Flybridge on February 9th.

Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for sports media startup StatSheet (statsheet.com). He also retains ownership in consulting firm Intrepid Company (intrepidcompany.com) and creative network Intrepid Media (intrepidmedia.com). He can be reached via twitter @jproco.