How to answer if you don’t have an answer
Tweet 3 tips on how to answer a question if you do NOT have an answer
David Hornik’s (August Capital) recording on meeting/pitching venture capitalists from Marketing Voices is definitely worth 9 minutes of your time:
Read what resonated most with me:
“It is not a show where everyone listens and claps at the end [...] if there is no engagement it is probably not going so well”.
If a meeting is only a monolog, it is a very bad sign – no matter if it is a pitch, an interview or a date. I invest in people and companies because I am excited about what they are doing. If I don’t interrupt, throw out ideas, ask questions or make comments, I am probably not that excited.
“It is very telling when someone does not know an answer to a question [and] their reaction to that [...] they kinda stop and you see them thinking …”
I classify answers to “not having an answer” in three categories:
- The BS answer: “Oh yes, bla bla blah” (fast paced)…- basically a way to talk out of the question hoping than no one notices the “canned-no-thoughts” BS answer.
- The politician answer: -annoying pause- ” Hmm, that is an interesting question, it reminds me of bla bla bla …” – a way to not answer the question by answering a different question.
- The stop & think answer: -thoughtful pause- “I have not thought of that, maybe we could …” (followed by a thoughtful insight or smart observation).
So how to answer a question that you haven’t thought of before:
- Take a moment (a moment, not 2 hours) and think before answering.
- Don’t worry about showing that you’re thinking as you speak.
- Help me understand your thinking process. Sometimes it is more valuable than the outcome.
- Don’t hesitate to re-formulate or start over if you realize there is a “better answer”.
- Be honest: it’s best to admit you don’t have a clue about the answer than making up something for the sake of it (just don’t let that happen to often).
I am looking for founders who have thought through most things, done their research (market, competition) and considered alternatives. But above all, I am looking for founders who can think outside the box and have the ability to think quickly under pressure and in stressful situations. How someone reacts to an unexpected question is very telling.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 4:04 am and is filed under Entrepreneur Advice, Featured Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.