Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

So my simple advice is to start PR as early as possible (and certainly earlier than most of your investors will advise) when you have your head around your product plans and are well into execution (or ready to launch) precisely because your recruiting, seed funding and initial user base may depend on it. In a startup this is a mistake.

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pitching media advice venture capital 319

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 19, 2024

My first pitch was not to investors or potential clients; it was to my fiancée, convincing her to delay our wedding plans until Equifund was up and running — a promise that took significantly longer than the anticipated six months to fulfill. I was not licensed, did not have a college degree, could not code.

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finance financing entrepreneurship mentorship 255

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2024

We made connections, hopefully made a good impression, and potentially helped founders along their journeys with some advice or connections. I’m not sure we backed any of the founders—but that wasn’t the point.

communities 350

communities consulting creativity advice 350

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

But get everybody to commit to sitting in the room until the terms are pounded out and creative solutions are reached for areas where you are at odds on terms. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice (although this also applies tightly with Raising Venture Capital ). You all know this intuitively. ABC: Always Be Closing.

venture capital 301

venture capital advice VC real estate 301

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

The specific things you’re looking for are: intelligence, ability to think creatively, ability to work with customers on vaguely defined problems, ability to assemble an ROI business case (with a template already created by marketing) and above all else the ability to listen, summarize and follow-through. Tags: Startup Advice.

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startup consulting advice construction 346

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

They get pitched by so many blowhards that more genuine people who aren’t in it for just a story stand out from the crowd. Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent.

startup 349

startup pitching advice consulting 349

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. Or “I’m a new entrepreneur, why would I offer advice on how to run a startup?&#. People often ask me why I started blogging.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

TechCrunch

JULY 14, 2021

Anyone , an audio app that’s building a ‘marketplace for advice’ one five-minute phone call at a time, is launching new versions of its iOS and Android apps today* and beginning to large-scale onboarding after operating in a limited closed beta for the past six months. It’s one-to-one only.

advice 99

advice networking sustainability communities 99

TechCrunch

MAY 4, 2023

We are a good 47 pitch decks into our Pitch Deck Teardown series , and one piece of feedback we’ve gotten frequently is that it’s easy to be a critic: What would we have done? So for this week’s pitch deck teardown, we’re going to try something different. At its heart, though, the deck was good.

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pitching opportunity creativity investment 72

TechCrunch

APRIL 23, 2023

Your first slide is obviously important for a pitch deck; first impressions count, and having a solid introduction goes a long way. Well, those are all helpful shorthand – but you can get more creative, too! You need a closing slide When pitching, you start with your best stuff first and go from there.

pitching 91

pitching creativity advice opportunity 91

Entrepreneur's Handbook

DECEMBER 24, 2021

Otherwise, you lose sales even before you start Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash Do not mistake the perfect pitch for the well-rehearsed (read: memorized) presentation. The cookie-cutter pitch presentation kills your sales pipeline before you actually have one. My team members call it the Pitch Perfect experience.

pitching 72

pitching consulting creativity board 72

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Sure, you need to learn what the common theme of the no’s are and be willing to make adjustments to your pitch. Fortunately I met the love of my life through work so I never had to follow his dating advice but I’ve always remembered Ron Lawrence in business. Sometimes you have to find creative ways of getting to the next milestone.

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pitching VC consulting creativity 232

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Conversely many VCs believe that constraining cash can often lead to increases in creative solutions at a startup. Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?”

VC 247

VC capital financing finance 247

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 5, 2024

My advice to all entrepreneurs: Don’t shy away from hard conversations. Don’t be afraid to get creative and explore new possibilities!” Look at them as catalysts for growth, enhancing both your business and your personal development,” Shawn explains. Think of them as the starting point of a much larger conversation.

consulting 211

consulting real estate entrepreneurial ecosystem entrepreneurs 211

Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Rick narrated his journey to this collaboration in a recent TEDx talk , sharing stories of participants, how they’re embracing their unique creative processes and the difference they’re making in the world around them. What advice would you give other aspiring, young entrepreneurs? It’s a great environment to be in.

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support entrepreneurs incubation business incubator 130

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

You’ll hear from iconic founders, unicorn makers, boundary-benders — all of it served up with a gigantic side of DIY tips, actionable advice, encouragement and inspiration. You can also catch Startup Alley founders pitching to TechCrunch staff. Look for the Startup Pitch Feedback Sessions scheduled over all three days.

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disruption opportunity pitching advice 85

OnStartups

MARCH 24, 2021

During the first week of that class, we all had to do a short pitch of a startup idea and convince our classmates to join our “startup”. I pitched a startup called “HubSpot”, which ended up being one of the ideas chosen. Creative Market : Acquired by Adobe. Note: this is not investment advice). WP Engine. Enough bragging.

angel investing 125

angel investing investment investing pitching 125

TechCrunch

AUGUST 27, 2021

Tapping into someone else’s experience is a tried-and-true method, which is why two-time Y Combinator participant Chris Morton wrote a guest post for Extra Crunch with advice for founders hoping to be accepted by the famed accelerator. “Go back to work instead of spending more time perfecting an application.”. “Do

pitching 86

pitching venture capital SaaS strategy 86

Innovation 2 Enterprise

MARCH 26, 2024

I still regularly meet with i2E for advice as I’m building my company. As a woman founder, what advice do you have for other aspiring women entrepreneurs who may be facing barriers or doubts about pursuing their own ventures? Practice in pitching and answering tough questions has prepared us to begin raising funding.

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entrepreneurs innovation advice construction 106

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

I covered one demo day in person, spending most of my time backstage where founder teams practiced their pitches. Deep tech founders face special challenges when pitching investors: they usually don’t have a product, customers or revenue. Grafana’s early pitch deck — 12:00. The pitch deck teardown — 32:00.

SaaS 113

SaaS startup pitching education 113

StartupNation

JULY 11, 2021

You can’t use up creativity. The best way to get your side hustle moving is to flex those creative muscles. The act of exercising your creative muscle will help you perfect your craft and become even better. Hustle through the difficulties. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou.

entrepreneurs 122

entrepreneurs creativity investment investing 122

TechCrunch

MAY 10, 2022

In addition to sharing direct advice for fintech founders, the investors talked about managing fraud and default risk, BNPL’s growing popularity as a point-of-sale option, and what kinds of investment opportunities they’re looking for. Melissa Guzy, co-founder and managing partner, Arbor Ventures. Image Credits: Sequoia Capital.

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pitching capital ventures strategy 87

NZ Entrepreneur

MARCH 18, 2020

The purpose of intellectual property law is to protect not just products, but also innovations and creativity that have gone into the creation of those products or services, and your brand and reputation in the market. Once you’ve disclosed information, it may be too late to protect your IP—so we recommend getting advice early on.

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advice pitching innovation creativity 62

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Each startup exhibits on all 3 days of the show in the expo hall, and the 20 finalists will pitch on the Disrupt Stage throughout several rounds during the show. How to Use Your “Perfect Pitch” to Gain Partnerships and Grow Your Startup , with Dell for Startups. Korea Pavilion Fast-pitch Sessions , with Kotra. . 12:10 p.m. –

disruption 86

disruption pitching networking SaaS 86

TechCrunch

APRIL 13, 2021

They’ll have plenty of insight and advice to share, including the challenges that startup founders will face as they break into the transportation arena. Schedule virtual product demos, pitch investors or recruit new talent. You’ll hear from CEOs like Starship Technologies’ Ahti Heinla.

micromobility 68

micromobility transportation construction networking 68

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. Any advice or insights on how to present a strong case for an O-1A or EB-1A? The information provided in “Dear Sophie” is general information and not legal advice. Take a listen!

advice 82

advice entrepreneurship consulting creativity 82

TechCrunch

JULY 1, 2022

“This includes cutting non-performing products, decreasing R&D and general and administrative expenses, and doubling down on creative strategies to recover customer acquisition cost instantly to reduce burn associated with growth.” My best advice: Strengthen your network. Image Credits: Wilco (opens in a new window).

SaaS 80

SaaS pitching development strategy 80

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 3, 2020

will hand-hold you through the process of building a super savvy customer service robot, is the pitch. can still offer a compelling sales pitch to businesses with more “consultative” customer support needs, where automation will only be able to play a far more limited role.

support 109

support consulting accelerator pitching 109

TechCrunch

APRIL 10, 2022

Between his roles as co-leader of Mayfield Fund’s engineering biology practice and founder at IndieBio, Arvind Gupta reviewed approximately 470 startup pitches last year. “In 10 days, I can do the primary research and work with the founders to come to a conclusion there. Because no one cares if the market is terrible.

startup 87

startup economic environments venture capital advice 87

TechCrunch

JANUARY 10, 2023

Anywhere from 20% to 50% of crypto-related pitches today are DeFi-focused, several investors we surveyed said. This means helping the founders in our portfolio cut costs, prioritize high growth activity and providing advice on product, growth and future fundraising strategy in a less friendly funding environment.

frameworks 89

frameworks finance financing pitching 89

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 5, 2024

My advice to all entrepreneurs: Don’t shy away from hard conversations. Don’t be afraid to get creative and explore new possibilities!” Look at them as catalysts for growth, enhancing both your business and your personal development,” Shawn explains. Think of them as the starting point of a much larger conversation.

consulting 109

consulting real estate entrepreneurial ecosystem leadership 109

TechCrunch

MARCH 27, 2023

Featuring topics like articulated robots, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), commercial hardware, humanoids, IoT/consumer hardware and interstellar technologies The SaaS Stage: Discover software-as-a-service tools that reveal insights, power productivity and allow creativity and efficiency to blossom within your organization.

disruption 79

disruption peer-to-peer sustainability networking 79

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 13, 2016

Against everyone’s advice, I decided to seek out a business partner. Most of the people we’ve placed are looking for something more than a paycheck; they want a job that lets them be creative and fosters trust and respect. Above all, we only pitch people on the companies we would personally interview for.”.

culture 130

culture entrepreneurship peer-to-peer energy 130

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

Working hard on launching your startup, but need next-steps advice you can trust? We’re talking funding tips — like creative bootstrapping, securing that elusive Series A and perfecting your pitch. Ready to kick your j-o-b to the curb and finally unleash your entrepreneurial ambition?

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founder creativity communities advice 78

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

While the group we saw that had the largest number of members (~1k) was an open pitch around podcast ideas and soliciting help for podcast projects. In general, groups had far fewer members and seemed more focused/niche — say aimed at illuminating a specific local issues (‘Police reform in Minneapolis explained’).

media 80

media collaboration mix-use communities 80

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2022

Similarly, “everyone needs 18-24 months of runway” is a nice motto, but when it takes three times longer to raise a round than it used to, it may no longer be useful advice. Pitch Deck Teardown: MedCrypt’s $25M Series B deck. Pitch Deck Teardown: MedCrypt’s $25M Series B deck. to 17 cents. Mission slide.

VC 86

VC pitching frameworks health 86

David Teten VC

AUGUST 20, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. Instead, the company can pitch itself based on a credible financial projection. Less need for a belief in breakthrough technology. Realistic projections.

founder 74

founder investment investing venture capital 74