Desperate People Buy From Startups: Invest in Missionaries vs. Mercenaries — Faith in Silicon Valley

Special Guest David MountRAUL HERNANDEZ OCHOA

Most of us assume Silicon Valley runs on money and nothing else. David Mount, who has invested there since 2008, says that at its best it runs on purpose, and that a Catholic can feel right at home in it.

David Mount spent 10 years at Kleiner Perkins before his team spun out to form G2 Venture Partners, which invests where technology meets industry and energy. He has seen what separates the founders who last: in his mentor John Doerr's terms, missionaries who want to change the world, not mercenaries chasing the money.

On this week's episode of Breaking the Barrier, he and Nick Madden get practical about what investors look for, why customers take a risk on a startup, and the season in his late 20s and early 30s when a new firm and a fourth kid were too much.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

• Finding the desperate customer: David quotes an investor's line he has held on to: only desperate people buy from startups. Buying from an unproven company puts someone's neck out, so there is always a reason, and G2 makes dozens of customer calls, including with those who said no, to find it.

• Selling as solving a problem: When David told his mentor Pat Kennedy that sales felt like squeezing people, Pat told him a customer who calls you too expensive is really saying they don't believe you're solving their problem. Solve real problems, and people want to pay you.

• Loved by God, then husband, dad, work: Mentors told him to take some time at the beginning of the day and pray. For 10 to 15 years that practice has been how he gets back to the order, and his wife can tell when he has skipped it.

If you lead a company, a team, or a family, this conversation is a practical case for building something people truly need while keeping first things first.