Some reasons you don't hear back from investors: pt. 2 -- they're hustling to get the deals

It takes a lot to find, vet and close an investment opportunity. You network. You meet someone who is a founder. Learn about their company. Develop an interest in and appreciation for the business & market opportunity they're pursuing. Get a feel for how large that opportunity is, the quality of the team and how things are progressing, what the main risks are and how investment capital will be used. Ask if they're seeking investment. Introduce the opportunity to your partner if you're working with another co-investor. Meet the CEO and often other leaders in the co., and sometimes even startup's core team. Convey your interest and commitment to the business, excitement and passion and ability to add value and help. Make some early introductions to demonstrate that. Conduct due diligence on the business and technical operations. Update your business partner. Include them in any final due diligence. Align with your partner and decide how much to invest. Confirm the terms and documents. Sign the paperwork and wire the investment money. Begin doing more to help the new member of your portfolio. Begin acting as a new member of their team.

An investor operating according to fairly "standard" principles will be working to make ~20-25 investments (not including follow-on rounds) over ~4-5 years. This means making 4-6 investments per year. Doing so requires a lot of focus once you find opportunities that you want to make one of those 4-6 investments / year.

Keep in mind that some of those prospective investments that you fully pursue don't work out. They fissle or problems arise. Then the investor has to deal with, manage and learn from those problematic situations and the intellectual and emotional dynamics around the investment opportunities that don't work out.

And with a specific investment opportunity, when an investor sees it and has conviction, when they feel like it could make their portfolio and advance or even their career, they want to give it a great deal of attention, build and maintain momentum and sustain that all the way until and through closing the investment opportunity. When an investor is in this zone, they don't respond as much or as quickly.

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