The Woz

Today I met with Y Combinator about getting funding for CouchDb. I'm sure you want to know, how did it go?

Well, 15 minutes simply isn't enough time to explain this stuff, and I don't know that I was able to explain any of what makes this technology compelling. They asked a lot of what seemed like rapid fire questions and I felt I didn't answer any of them terribly well.

But one highlight was when Paul Graham turned to me and said I was a Steve Wozniak and that I need a Steve Jobs. Cool. Being a "Wozniak" is quite a compliment just about anytime. Except when doing demos and selling your project, in which case you *really* want to be Jobs.

So how did it go?

What am I a mind reader? Come back tomorrow I'll know more.



Update:

Just got off the phone with Paul Graham. They passed. Paul made the point once more that I'm the Woz and I need a Steve Jobs. He's wrong of course, but not that he could possibly know it from that meeting.

This was my very first funding application, and on the plus side it hammered home what I need to focus on: Presentation and presence. With a project this big I cannot focus on the technical aspects when pitching to money folks, even if they are technical. I have to be both grandiose and believable, infectious with enthusiasm without appearing infectious with disease if you know what I mean.

Posted November 5, 2006 2:15 PM