There’s been a quiet shift happening. It seems like the venture capital world is getting, well, fancy. Or, at the very least, they want their founders to be. This week, Slow Ventures hosted a three-hour “Etiquette Finishing School.” Yep, you read that right. A finishing school. For startup founders.
I know, right? Pretty wild. The whole thing was designed to help these founders learn to be… well, fancy. The curriculum? Everything from the perfect handshake to the nuances of public speaking and even office decorum. I’m picturing tiny forks and pinkies up, but I’m probably wrong.
It’s a fascinating move, honestly. You’ve got these companies, these scrappy startups, building the future, and suddenly, they need a lesson in how to shake hands properly? It’s a bit of a culture clash, but maybe that’s the point. The world of venture capital has always had its own set of unspoken rules, and perhaps Slow Ventures is trying to help their founders navigate that world a little smoother.
The goal, it seems, is to equip these founders with the tools they need to succeed not just in building a product or service, but also in the boardroom, at networking events, and, well, wherever else they might find themselves. Think about it: a polished founder is probably more likely to impress investors, land partnerships, and generally make a good impression. And in the world of startups, perception is often reality.
This “Etiquette Finishing School” covered a lot of ground. The perfect handshake, which, let’s be honest, is a skill many of us could probably brush up on. Public speaking – a huge factor in whether a startup gets funded or not. And then there’s office decorum. I’m curious what that entailed. Were there lessons on how to arrange the succulents? How to avoid passive-aggressive sticky notes?
Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking about the evolving definition of what it means to be a successful founder. For a long time, it was all about the hustle, the late nights, the ramen noodles, and the ability to code like a ninja. Now, it seems, there’s a new set of skills being valued. Soft skills, you might call them. The ability to network, to present yourself well, to navigate the social landscape of the business world.
And it makes sense, right? As startups grow, founders have to step into a different role. They go from being the doers to the leaders, the visionaries, the faces of the company. And that requires a whole new set of skills. This is the new normal, it seems.
Look, the “Finishing School” concept is unusual, but maybe it’s a sign of the times. It’s a signal that the venture capital world is becoming more sophisticated and that founders need to keep up. It’s an interesting concept, to say the least.