In a recent blog post, Backupify CEO Rob May compared raising venture capital to dating:
“I always thought the goal was to be so smart and savvy in the presentation that some skeptical VCs would be won over by my impressive arguments. It doesn’t work that way. They either like you and your idea, or they don’t. It’s like dating because your goal in dating is not to convince someone who is a bad match for you that somehow you are really a good match. That’s a recipe for divorce. It’s really about finding the person that is naturally a good match. Same way with investors.”
Same thing with brands.
As we talk about in Acquiring Event Sponsorship: The 30,000 Foot View, the end-game is to generate ROI for your partner (we recommend 2-3x). There’s no need to force feed a relationship. Like May says, it will end in divorce. Your consumers won’t support the product/service because there’s no chemistry.
