Justin GordonFounder, The LA Grind & The SF Grind

Turning $2 into a $100K investment

3 Apr 2025 · 1 min

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1:00

In this first‑person anecdote, the speaker recounts a chance encounter with a college professor who also served as a managing director at Bessemer Venture Partners. After emailing the professor for a meeting under the pretext of seeking advice, the speaker, hungover, buys a yellow VitaminWater—the professor’s trademark drink—to bring to the meeting. The professor is impressed that the speaker remembered his favorite beverage, interprets it as a sign of attentiveness, and within thirty minutes writes a $100,000 check for the speaker’s venture. The story illustrates the adage “ask for advice, get money; ask for money, get advice,” and underscores how small, thoughtful gestures can create trust and unlock significant investment.

Chapters

I'll tell you a really funny story. Where I went to college, one of the professors was managing director of Bessemer Venture Partners. Oh, wow. He just taught a class because he's just a good guy. I kind of emailed him. I was like, hey, can I get a meeting? Ask for advice. Really? I wanted money. There's a saying: ask for advice, get money; ask for money, get advice. The night before, I went out with a bunch of my friends, and I was ultra hungover in the morning. I was meeting him on campus, and I went down to the cafe to get a vitamin water. And I remember that this guy, every single time he comes to our class, he would have yellow vitamin water. I was like, okay, yellow vitamin water has caffeine. It has like B12. Like this is. Perfect for a hangover. You know what? I'm gonna get this guy one too. And then we have this good meeting like, hey, Mr. Tanja, here's the vitamin water. He goes, holy shit, you remember this? I was like, yeah, you always come to class with one. He thought I went out of my way. I was really just hungover. I'll get one too. Yeah. Thirty minutes into the meeting, he's like, cool, I'll write you a check for a hundred K. I was like, really? I was like, why? He goes, no one remembers the vitamin water thing. Like the fact that you remember that. I was like, yeah, I remember that. This is the best whatever two dollars I've ever spent in my entire life.