When You Don't Have All the Answers

Allen Morgan has posted his Ten Commandments for Entrepreneurs -- the 10 things you should know when approaching venture capitalists. He's in a position to know. He's a general partner and managing director with Mayfield, one of the top Silicon Valley VC firms. In Commandment #8 - Know What You Don't Know -- and Admit It, he says it's sometimes OK not to have an answer to a VC's question. Some questions aren't "answerable" at certain stages of the business. But if it is "answerable" and you don't know, whatever you do, don't fake it!  He says:

"DO: admit (with confidence) that you don’t know the answer

DO: make a note of the question

DO: quickly find out the answer to the question

DO: promptly follow up offline with the VC who asked the question

DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT: fake your way through an evasive, oblique, or indirect attempt at an answer."