This is really off-putting and involves a lot of opportunity cost, given that junior/mid-tier VCs are looking to network over the long term, as should you. Some of them will one day be GPs, and people have long memories. If you don’t want to take a meeting that you don’t think will be valuable to either party, a form response is fine. No harm, no foul. But saying “VCs don’t contact me” broadcasts a negative signal - and for what?

Consumer startups make for better businesses than enterprise SaaS. I genuinely believe this. And, as it turns out, there’s a lot of data to back this up. Recently, the team at @ForerunnerVC (@jasondbornstein @kirstenagreen), published a deep-dive on the size and impact of consumer companies in the United States. What they found was pretty interesting. First they reminded us that: “We live in a consumer-driven economy—consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. GDP.” In the article, the authors explain that a “Consumer Company” is actually a broad category defined as “one underpinned by technology where either an individual consumer pays for the service or product or the company’s revenue relies on consumer spend or engagement. That includes: - Digital brands and retailers (Warby Parker, Farfetch, Revolve, Rent the Runway) - Marketplaces (Airbnb, Uber, DoorDash, Duolingo) - Social media (Snap, Pinterest) - Software companies that enable commerce (Stripe, Shopify, Toast) In their research, Forerunner reviewed more than 12,000 venture-backed companies that have raised a Series B since 2010. They found that, as compared to their Enterprise counterparts: 🚀 Consumer companies are more likely to go public if they raise a Series B 📈 Consumer companies offer better growth rates and profit margins at IPO 💰 Consumer company IPOs are larger 💸 Consumer companies fetch comparable revenue multiples at IPO The Forerunner team also believes that some of the biggest innovations in AI will disproportionately benefit consumer companies over enterprise. Forerunner is bullish on the future of consumer. And so am I.