Ether.Fi Founder Exposes: The Top Ten Abuses by Crypto VCs
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Ether.Fi Founder Exposes: The Top Ten Abuses by Crypto VCs
Is VC wasting your precious time?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Mike Silagadze, Founder of Ether.Fi
Translation: Xiyu, ChainCatcher
Today, Mike Silagadze, founder of Ether.Fi, shared a post on social media about the chaotic experiences he encountered with crypto VCs during seed and Series A rounds. ChainCatcher has translated the piece as follows:
1. The Endless First Meeting Loop
You meet with a partner or associate—the meeting goes well—but then they schedule another meeting with a different partner. In that next meeting, the partner has no idea who you are, received no briefing, and hasn’t read any notes. So you go through the entire introduction all over again. If this happens three times or more, it gets even more "exciting."
2. The Last-Minute Substitution
A partner reaches out to you, says they heard you're fundraising, and requests a meeting. But when the time comes, the partner doesn't show up—instead, they send a colleague in their place. If this happens repeatedly across multiple fundraising rounds, it becomes even more "entertaining."
3. The Anonymous One
Somone introduces you to a VC who seems genuinely interested in your project, so you set up a call. But during the video meeting, the VC appears anonymously, using some damn Wassie PFP (a default profile picture on social or messaging platforms).
Nothing like seeing anonymous investors on your cap table. I hear these are the most rational and supportive ones.
4. Radio Silence
You have multiple meetings with a VC firm. They ask many follow-up questions—requesting more data, financial statements, and roadmaps—then suddenly, nothing. No further communication at all. How mysterious.
5. The Option Game
You spend two weeks meeting with a fund, answering questions, undergoing due diligence—then hear nothing for a while. You assume you’ve been ghosted.
Then suddenly, a message: “How’s the raise going? Let’s hop on another call.” After the call? Silence again.
This repeats several times. Are they gone? No—they’re just holding a free "option" on your company.
6. The Self-Promoter
A 30-minute call with a partner, 25 of which are spent listening to them talk about themselves.
7. The Trojan Horse
A fund agrees to meet, and you dive deep into strategy, tech stack, and analysis. Then—nothing. They vanish.
A week later, they announce an investment round into your direct competitor.
Congratulations—you've just built someone else's "wedding dress." You were used.
8. The Mania Session
Within 30 seconds of the meeting starting, you’re certain the VC is on stimulants. As they grow increasingly aggressive and contradict everything you say, things spiral downward.
Yet at the end, they still say, “Let me know how I can help.”
9. The Topic Drift
The partner has zero understanding of what you're building. The entire meeting, they try to convince you to build an entirely different business. Bonus points if they actually succeed in persuading you.
10. The Pseudo-Wise
You take a call with a 22-year-old associate whose experience consists of a 3-month internship at Goldman Sachs and losing his bonus gambling on meme coins. Yet during the meeting, he lectures you endlessly and offers unsolicited advice.
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