Dec 30, 2015 · 28m · 20vc
20 VC: How To Say No Fast and Efficiently and Why UX Must Always Be At The Core Of What You Do with Sitar Teli, Managing Partner @ Connect Ventures
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Sitar Teli, Managing Partner at Connect Ventures, discussing her transition into venture capital, the maturation of the European tech ecosystem, and Connect's product- and UX-focused investment philosophy.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 22.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 2.5 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.3 Harry pushing back 1.8
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 24:02 Sitar dismissing corporate VC Twitter accounts
Sitar directly criticizes institutional corporate Twitter accounts managed by VC firms as ineffective, arguing that founders connect with individual investor personalities rather than generic corporate brands.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 14:19 Harry pressing on in-person pitch rejectionsHarry directly challenges Sitar's workflow by asking 'So would you say no in the meeting?', pressing her to clarify whether she breaks bad news to founders face-to-face.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:23 Why detailed rejection feedback is counterproductiveSitar educates Harry on founder psychology, explaining that giving detailed feedback after rejecting a pitch almost always leads to founders attempting to debate and argue the decision.
Harry holds his own ▶ 25:51 Harry demonstrating co-investor and deal knowledgeHarry showcases his industry connectivity by naming Knitten's co-investors—Local Globe, Robin and Saul Klein, and Felix Capital—before Sitar completes her full list.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sitar Teli's Career Journey into Venture Capital | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Harry asks standard introductory prompts about Sitar's journey into venture capital. Sitar explains her transition from technology M&A banking at Broadview to moving to London when the ecosystem was still nascent. | |
| The Evolution of the European Tech Ecosystem | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Harry asks what drove the growth of European tech and asks Sitar to clarify her definition of VC partnerships. Sitar explains that balanced partnerships benefit from mixing operational backgrounds with investing experience. | |
| Building Connect Ventures as a New Seed Fund | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Harry asks about the experience of starting Connect Ventures. Sitar describes the early struggles of establishing credibility, noting how founders questioned their legitimacy until they had business cards and portfolio companies. | |
| Differentiating Connect and the Philosophy of Fast Rejections | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Harry probes Sitar on whether she rejects founders face-to-face during pitches. Sitar elaborates on her fast-rejection philosophy and explains why providing detailed feedback usually results in fruitless debates with optimistic founders. | |
| Connect's Investment Criteria and UX-Centric Focus | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Harry asks how Connect differentiates itself amid high capital availability at seed stage. Sitar explains Connect's three investment criteria, emphasizing their core thesis around design and user experience. | |
| Quickfire Round: Industry Views, Sourcing, and Recent Investments | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | In the quickfire round, Harry demonstrates solid ecosystem awareness by identifying co-investors in Knitten. Sitar provides clear views on crowdfunding, VC social media presence, and thesis-driven deal sourcing. |
Statements from this episode (15)
Teli: London Tech Ecosystem Lags Silicon Valley Despite Catching New York
“How London's sort of kind of catching up at New York, but it's still a ways away from where Silicon Valley is”
Sitar Teli: Adtech is currently and will remain less interesting
“Advertising technology, although that's probably less interesting at the moment and probably in the future.”
Teli: VC funds need partners with founder or early-stage experience
“If you're starting a fund, to have someone, or at least some of the partners, have started a company, or been very early in a company, because I think they can relate to founders in a very different way.”
Teli: VC firms should operate as partnerships rather than solo GPs
“I'm a big believer in VC partnerships, rather than working alone.”
Sitar Teli: Starting a VC fund is the worst kind of startup
“It's probably one of the worst startups you can think of.”
Connect Ventures launched without an office, website, or business cards
“One of the things we had to deal with the first year is, People didn't take us seriously until we had business cards, because they didn't really believe we were a real fund. And so, like, we didn't have an office. We didn't have business cards. There wasn't a …”
Teli: Portfolio support is the best marketing for a VC fund
“For us, we've always played the long game in terms of marketing, which is the best marketing we can do is the companies we invest in, and working them really well, and if we do that right, that's how we build our brand, and that's how we build our reputation”
Teli: Fast rejections are the most valuable service VCs offer founders
“So, so, so I think that actually the biggest thing that you can do to provide value is to say no as quickly as possible. Because you know, the, what's more valuable, right? It's the entrepreneur's time. That's like the most valuable thing. And so the longer th…”
Teli: VCs giving 'maybe' responses unfairly string founders along with false hope
“A lot of times, VCs say maybe, which is, I think, just a very not nice way of saying no, right? Right, because it gives the entrepreneur hope, and a lot of times the entrepreneurs interpret them maybe as a not no, you know, and it's just keeping them hanging o…”
Teli: VCs should avoid detailed rejection feedback because founders debate it
“With, what I like to do is give just a couple of reasons for why, like, you know, the most important reason for why, but not too detailed, because the problem with giving really detailed feedback is I've rarely had an entrepreneur who didn't try to argue with …”
Teli: Connect Ventures rarely invests without a strong UX focus
“If user experience is not at the core of that it's just not likely that we invest at all.”
Teli: There is enough venture capital for all seed companies
“In seed, yeah, there's, there is probably enough capital for all the seed companies out there, but capital isn't just one giant bucket”
Teli: Crowdfunding complements seed venture capital instead of threatening it
“No, I actually think it helps it. I mean, a lot of the best crowdfunding runs I've seen have been alongside a VC. One. And two I think, you know, there, there's a lot of businesses out there that frankly don't need venture capital. They need capital, but not v…”
Teli: Firm Twitter accounts are ineffective compared to personal VC branding
“A lot of them, so what I see a lot of is like VCs where the firm has a Twitter account, and I don't think that's very effective. Because I think for entrepreneurs, right, your relationship is with the investor, the specific person that you're going to be worki…”
Teli: Knitten software will enable on-demand apparel manufacturing in retail stores
“In the much longer term, I can imagine walking into Azara and having them print me some clothes. Yeah. And it's the software that, that Knitten is developing that really enables that to happen at scale and at a way that's cost competitive with what people do n…”