(A little) transparency is a good thing in VC
The Funded is a web application designed to provide entrepreneurs with information about venture capitalists. VC is an interesting space because incomplete information is the norm. Generally, VCs prefer their privacy and The Funded is looking to add some transparency to the process. Members are allowed to leave feedback about venture capitalists and aggregate statistics are generated from this feedback. As of the time of this writing there are only 42 members listed. The process of becoming a member is more rigorous than an email address–you’re required to list not only your company’s URL but also the URL of your bio. The idea is to keep out trollers intent on destroying reputations and I think the manual screening process will go a long way toward maintaining the site’s integrity. TechCrunch had a couple complaints and I was pleased to see comments from The Funded stating they’d already corrected the oversight–impressive quick move. Give the site another couple months to pick up steam and see how useful it really is.
Hey, the good news is that the heavy press brought us to over 130 members. We are SUPER cautious about membership and already removed 1 suspicious post and 1 suspicious member. It’s all about good and honest data.
As a founder, it would be a dream to see 50 companies get funded without the traditional hassles of the “old way” of doing things.