Benchmark Capital might be the greatest venture firm on the planet. I stole a trick from them — and you can use it too!

This morning, I was chatting with a great young founder. We got past all the numbers and on to a real conversation.

He opened up to me about some a–hole investors he’s dealing with. I couldn’t believe some of their behavior.

And then, our time was up.

Here’s the trick…

I didn’t schedule any meeting right after ours. In fact, I almost never schedule back-to-back meetings.

How could I tell him I had to leave?! We were just starting to have a great conversation!

I just kept kibitzing with him until we finished what we were talking about. At the end of our call, I had a much better understanding of him as a person.

Benchmark avoids back-to-back meetings whenever possible. I read about that trick in the wonderful book The Power Law and stole it for myself.

Our business is all about the great founders. The one in 1,000.

When you meet someone great, you want to have the freedom to chat and kick around ideas at length. The conversation goes where it goes.

This helps me truly understand people. It also helps me build relationships.

You can’t always get to know people in 30 minute chunks. Sometimes, it takes longer.

I always want to have time for those great founders.

So if we book a meeting and I pick a weird time, this might be the reason. I want the freedom to chat with you longer if we need to.

We angels and VC’s are in a service business. We are here to help founders.

We do that best when we make every conversation a priority and treat each person with respect.

Part of that is keeping our calendars in check.

Give this a try and you’ll be amazed at the great conversations you have! And you never know…one of them might lead to an incredible investment.

How do you handle meetings with founders and investors? Leave a comment and let us know!

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