Apparently, we're not far enough along for the Indianapolis Venture Club.  Fine. One of their investors didn't even have the guts to call me and tell me we were declined.  They had a "coordinator" call me and all she could offer was that I answered one of the questions on how far along in the process we were with "Concept".  Note to future applicants.  "Concept" will get you a declined application.  We're in the prototype phase of our project; there’s no getting around that and I’m ok with their decision because it’s their decision.  What bugs me the most is that as an entrepreneur, I wasn't even show the courtesy of a call before being declined by one of their secretaries.  Is this really how VC operates?  You've heard me talk before on this blog about customer service.  I wonder if the Indiana Venture Club even understands how demeaning their way of declining someone is.  I have to say that I'm so put off by the way they handled the situation that I'm not sure I'd go back at a later stage of funding when we might be far enough along for their liking.

Here's how the process went.

  • Submit application on the web.
  • Not a single phone call, confirmation email or follow-up from them.
  • Send another email two weeks later inquiring if they even received the request because by then I was wondering if the web site was real.
  • Three days later a secretary calls to tell me that my request has been declined.
  • Secretary didn't make the decision so there's no way to network.  No way to find out why. No answers.  My next request, if it happens, will be just as blind as this one.
  • That slam you hear is the sound of a door being slammed in my face before I could tell them I was from Publisher's Clearing House.

Oh well.  Cincinnati and Louisville have been far more pleasant to interact with.  I'm meeting with their committees on Wednesday to be heard.