"The big company execs don’t realize nothing happens at a small company unless you personally take initiative. Nothing comes to you by itself."
This part hits very close to home. Every single one of the executive, sales, or biz-dev people our VCs pushed on fell into this trap. Without fail, they would dig into their network until reaching an impressive contact, put together a powerpoint proposal with shockingly good projections, and then expect someone else to make it all happen. However, in every case they were ousted by the board and the VC firm after 1 year of not producing results.
When you say "they would dig into their network" do you mean that first, the VCs recommend that you hire the executive, and then the executive hires his impressive contact -- the one who is supposed to make magic?
What do you suppose is going on here? Is the executive just trying to build his empire from the start? Or, are these executives circulating around in a system of favors, going from failure to failure? Do you think it's naivete, stupidity, or cynicism on the part of VCs to hire these guys?
This part hits very close to home. Every single one of the executive, sales, or biz-dev people our VCs pushed on fell into this trap. Without fail, they would dig into their network until reaching an impressive contact, put together a powerpoint proposal with shockingly good projections, and then expect someone else to make it all happen. However, in every case they were ousted by the board and the VC firm after 1 year of not producing results.