【双语阅读】“对创始人友好”真正意味着什么？| 投资人说
编者按：本文作者为美国知名孵化器 YC 的合伙人 Aaron Harris。
Lots of VCs talk about being founder friendly. I’ve noticed that founders often misunderstand how that actually works. What “founder friendly” does and doesn’t mean is important to understand.
很多风险投资人都在说“要对创始人友好”。我注意到创始人们经常误解这话。“对创始人友好”真正意味着做什么和不做什么，清楚理解很重要。
Founder friendly doesn’t mean:
对创始人友好不代表：
Parties 聚会聚餐
Gifts 送礼物
Saying “yes” to every request 对你有求必应
Running your business for you 替你运营公司业务
Rolling over on every term in negotiations 迁就每次谈判
Giving you a high valuation 给你的公司很高的估值
Fixing your mistakes for you 为你犯的错误“擦屁股”
Being nice all of the time 总是很友好
Founder friendly does mean:
对创始人友好意味着：
Honest 诚实
Transparent 透明
Responsive 有责任心
Acting in the best interests of the:
争取使以下机构或个人的利益最大化：
Company 公司
Shareholders 股东
Employees 员工
Founders 创始人
Ultimately, even the best VCs can only be founder friendly up to a point. There are situations in which founders start to do things that harm the company. Investors should stop that from happening however they can. Sometimes, that means firing the founders. That’s a tough situation, but is sometimes necessary and not indicative of badness.
最终来说，就算是最好的风险投资人也只能在一定限度里对创始人友好。因为有时创始人要做的一些事情会损害公司。在这种情况下，投资者必须尽全力阻止这类事情发生。有时，这甚至意味着要开除创始人。这种情况会很艰难，但这有时是必要的且不会有任何坏处。
VCs are contractually bound to be LP friendly first – meaning they have to produce returns. That’s often what drives the push for different valuations, various types of control, and a host of other behaviors. In any of these situations, it’s not the outcome that drives “friendliness,” it’s how honestly, consistently, and ethically the investor acts.
风险投资者首先是协议下的普通合伙人——这就是说他们必须要求价值回报。这就是不同的估值、不同风格的管理以及一系列其他行为产生的原因。在任何情形下，都不是因为要得到回报结果而对创始人友好，而是投资者的诚实、坚持及道德等方面的“友好”。
Notes: 注意：
There are, however, good and bad ways to do this. Surprising a founder with a board coup is generally bad form. Warning the founder ahead of time and taking clear action with explicit reasons is better.
同时在做到这些时，也要注意方式。例如，突然之间告诉创始人董事会变化并不是一个好方式。但在此之前提醒创始人，并采取明确的行动和给出清楚的理由则是一种更好的方式。
【编译组出品】编辑：杨志芳
