Middle Market Deals and how to buy, sell and raise capital from $5 to $500 million

Brad Feld, whom I respect as one of the truly great early-stage venture capitalists in the country, wrote recently about his wish that folks wouldn't shake his hand.

Fred joins Donald Trump in what I view as being a small, but growing trend to avoid a very traditional greeting among friends, business associates, church goers and others.

I understand the argument that a handshake is an obvious means for passing germs from one person to another, especially during cold and flu season.

On the other hand, a hand shake remains a traditional test of one's professionalism. It is generally, though obviously not universally, expected that you shake the hand of the people you meet.  At some level, the hand shake determines whether or not you have met someone.  Until the hand shake, you remain unacquainted.

For entrepreneurs seeking venture capital, I think it is generally wise to presume that those you meet expect a hand shake, but it is considered good manners to wait until the VC extends his hand to shake yours.  It is the polite thing to do.  It is certainly my impression that the vast majority of people are comfortable with the tradition.

Now, there are exceptions.  If you pull out your handkerchief and blow your nose, it may not be wise to follow that up by sticking your hand out to those you greet (I gingerly walked away from someone who did that today, successfully seeking to avoid his freshly germed hand).

Finally, I would note that we all have a responsibility to do our part to avoid transmitting germs by washing our hands frequently.  I have had a bottle of hand sanitizer on my desk for years and now we see them everywhere.  It seems to me that a little extra hand washing and hand sanitizer are reasonable ways to protect ourselves, keeping in mind that if we never shake hands, we are still exposed routinely to the same germs on door knobs, hand rails, elevator buttons, ATM buttons, etc.