Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

If you demo your product (which is always great) then tell us part of the story while you’re demo’ing. I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. Where you planning to demo? NEVER lead with features.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting. I recommend it.

VC 238

VC advice pitching venture capital 238

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Your friends and advisers tell you that this means you need revenue because in this economy VC’s will only fund businesses with revenue. Unfortunately your advisers are wrong.

VC 309

VC pitching advice venture capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Same with VC. If in high school you got a 3.6

VC 332

VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. inside insight into VC decision-making. Industry reviews.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 3, 2012

meet with tons of companies every week, work hard for their portfolio companies, and are on planes flying around to the important confereneces and demo days". I think Fred was trying to offer some friendly advice to young investors that you're going to "take lumps" and that it's worth learning from those who are more experienced.

VC 274

VC board venture capital ventures 274

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC. Quick aside: how can VC’s invest in online businesses, digital media, social networks or mobile applications if they don’t actually use the products actively themselves? Tags: Start-up Advice.

startup founder 299

startup founder founder startup VC 299

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. Before I tell you my reasons for never doing a deal that a banker intro’d I have to preface by where I think bankers are enormously helpful on VC deals.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. There are too many pulls & tugs at our elbows for time, for coffee meetings, for advice or speaking engagements or cocktail parties or dinners.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

We feel pressure to hit milestones for a variety of reasons: Investor presentations, conference demos, customer sales meetings, competitive pressures, a need to drive revenue, business development commitments – whatever. There is nothing that will focus the mind more than not wanting to be on stage with a demo that bombs.

creativity 344

creativity leadership board energy 344

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). Demo’d to death. We’ve all been demo-day’d to death. Yeah, he was LA, baby! Quality endures.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

Along with detail orientation I have a strong bias for “doers.&# When I ask for a quick demo and the CEO tells me that he’ll schedule a follow-on meeting with his sales rep because, “I’m not a demo guy. years as a VC, “You don’t want to raise money from me. Then I’d fire the CEO.

entrepreneurs 286

entrepreneurs advice pitching VC 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Use the fact that you were on an anointed list to build credibility when you eventually approach journalists (and VC’s, customers, employees). Robert’s article is worth reading.

advice 307

advice media startup SaaS 307

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1. That’s OK, too.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Can we do a really quick run through your deck so that we save tons of time for a product demo & questions at the end?&#. And because as a VC or as a CEO or senior exec you get presented to all the time we’re extra sensitive to it. 25% of VCs are expressives, like you. Can I make a small suggestion?

VC 358

VC entrepreneurs creativity leadership 358

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. 8% of VC partnerships, for example). Now 33% of Supreme Court Justices are women (vs.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

Get yourself in a big demo day competition. I’m a VC. Startup Advice' What kind of message does that send to the party faithful who slave away loyally to hit targets for BigCo? I’ll tell you what is says. It says if you want to make “real” money - quit. Go do a startup. Woo the press.

strategy 357

strategy venture capital advice entrepreneurs 357

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC. I swore never to do that as a VC. What do VC’s Experience?

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Demos – One of the things that most people are bad at and that are hard to standardize is the demo. I have written about how to do a demo before (even though this was in the context of a VC pitch much of it applies). A good demo tells a story. 80% of demos I see are features, functions & benefits.

advice 296

advice SaaS startup pitching 296

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Demo days at startup accelerators are a pretty big deal around here. These events aren’t just a chance to review the latest cohort of hopeful entrepreneurs — they also showcase the technology, products and services that will compete for VC and consumer attention over the next few years. That startup was DoorDash, by the way.

SaaS 113

SaaS startup pitching education 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. I hope that when you’re presenting to a VC this will give you some sense of what might be going on in our minds. Both presenters are anonymized.

pitching 288

pitching VC advice strategy 288

TechCrunch

APRIL 7, 2023

Y Combinator’s Demo Day took place this week , and although the event itself was virtual-only, 86% of the founders in YC’s winter 2023 batch lived in SF while participating. Please note that these are for entertainment purposes only, as “we’re not offering investing advice or recommending anyone join or back a startup.”

pitching 98

pitching frameworks VC ventures 98

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

The Fantasy Cash Flow Model When I was an analyst at the General Motors pension fund, investing in VC funds, I had to build a model of how I thought they would perform. He demoed the product to me and I wound up being dollars #476 and #477 to be swiped on the very first Square prototype. I was blown away.

ventures 281

ventures angel investing board advice 281

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Most early-stage entrepreneurs who have worked with me (either as an angel or as a seed VC) know that I don’t rely at all on the social proof of other investors. if you need advice on how to find / work with startup lawyers cheaply click that link). When I’m in, I’m in. It goes back to the issue of investor fairness.

financing 286

financing finance advice VC 286

Venture Hacks

APRIL 17, 2019

Incentives make for bad investing advice. These valuations moved to $4-6M pre-money after 2010, with some demo days in the $8-10M range. Incentives make for bad investing advice. Incentives influence the advice you get from VCs, lawyers, incubators, and everybody else. Back $0B companies. Invest only in technology.

angel investing 181

angel investing investing investment incubation 181

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. Here is a sample of the reading list for the course that gives you a flavor for just how modern and practical this course is. And that leads me to today’s post.

startup 319

startup consulting pitching support 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2014

It wasn’t because I’m the target demo for that app – I am certainly not. So my advice for anybody building apps that are anonymous is to try and nail the balance of pseudonymity and authority or reputation management. If this drives enormous VC returns I’m happy to be the person who missed out.

support 329

support communities networking advice 329

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

Our first big institutional round of VC was $16.5 A small refuge from a busy day of shaking hands and demo’ing products. Tags: Startup Advice. I had come from a world where I was nearly a partner at Accenture before starting my first company. I was used to being allowed to fly business class and staying at nice hotels.

culture 333

culture construction startup advice 333

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

No metrics = high level, more generalized advice. I got him talking about this on This Week in VC including a quick demo of his dashboard - I think I'll shoot a separate sequence with just a walk-through of their analytics. Already stated above but know what you’re shooting for in terms of load times, crashes, known bugs, etc.

startup 346

startup board networking advice 346

TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2022

Even to outsiders, the inner workings of startup accelerators has become familiar: pumped up on camaraderie and energy drinks, scrappy founders do product demos onstage before a room full of buzzy journalists and investors. Signaling risk happens when a VC chooses to not do pro rata, or follow-on investing, in an existing portfolio company.

startup accelerator 92

startup accelerator accelerator startup energy 92

Y Combinator

MARCH 15, 2024

 During the past 8 years the entire team at YC was responsible for so much: -  Funding 3000+ startups, including 30+ unicorns (and counting) - Funding founders from 90+ countries around the world - Funding 1000 companies with underrepresented founders (women, Hispanic, Black) - Demo Days that now produce nearly half a billion dollars of funding (..)

leadership 109

leadership advice VC accelerator 109

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC. I swore never to do that as a VC. What do VC’s Experience?

entrepreneurs 176

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 176

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. Visit their virtual booths, get a product demo and start a conversation. Remember we said you’ll find plenty of actionable advice?

disruption 85

disruption opportunity pitching advice 85

TechCrunch

AUGUST 18, 2023

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription “Starting a tech company today costs 99% less than it did 18 years ago when Y Combinator was started,” says Brett Calhoun, managing director and general partner at Redbud VC.

VC 81

VC frameworks mix-use pitching 81

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. Deal evaluations the Foundry way, which continues into a great discussion about VC decision-making processes. “So So very few investors want Business Plans any more. Human Computer Interaction.

venture capital 288

venture capital pitching communities entrepreneurs 288

TechCrunch

MAY 9, 2023

Now that seemingly every VC has turned their attention to the category he told TechCrunch he’s glad he’s been in it for so long and therefore will not make some of the mistakes newer entrants will. “It’s so easy to throw together a vertical AI demo,” Winfield told TechCrunch.

startup 97

startup incubation strategy SaaS 97