Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. So the advice I’ve been giving many VCs from my experiences is that “in VC it’s important to play offense, not defense.” I don’t want any formal pitches. It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable. Lines, Not Dots. And so forth.

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peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

He pinged me that he was thinking about joining a startup based in LA with the CEO in NYC and would I be willing to meet him and give him advice on this process. He used the 500Startups platform to uber network in the Bay Area where he was living. Of course he pitched me the entire ride down. Come to entrepreneur pitches.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2012

Firms have networks of advisors, too--with particular expertise in your area. This somewhat mimics real life, where many investors won't take a meeting with you unless they come through their "trusted network". Are you waiting for them to pitch you? A number of VC firms have hired specialists in the area of recruiting.

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VC incubation construction networking 272

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

My advice : if you’re raising a $750,000 round and you have demand for $1.2 My advice in my post Should You Even Raise VC still holds. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. It is also a result of pent-up demand. So if I am unnecessarily concerned in this blog post (great!)

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VC startup advice innovation 269

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

a really wide angle view of the tech industry since you see so many concepts / so many pitches and REAL data points on how startups perform financially. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. Startup Advice' inside insight into VC decision-making. Mostly it’s philosophical.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

I'm sure each of those guys got questioned by entrepreneurs as to why they should accept advice from them as opposed to the entrepreneurial veterans of the days who worked in VC. Facing live pitching is a new thing, but that's no excuse for not having an approach to hitting and studying up to face this particular pitcher.

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VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Back when I was pitching my previous startup to investors, it had never really dawned on me that they had experienced what I was going through--and that a VC firm was essentially a startup. VCs pitch for money, too. No one ever thinks about VCs having to pitch, who they pitch to, or how it works.

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ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. If one vocal person blurts out, “just give us the details, we all know social networking&# don’t assume that person speaks for the entire room.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I think my mentality to banker pitches was best summed up in this article about Y Combinator in which Paul Graham apparently made the following quotes. They know how to build pitch decks. I value your insights into industries and your unrivaled networks. Advice to VCs Startup Advice' International money.

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advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

My guess is that probably only 2-3 out of every hundred pitches I receive are from women. But this coming generation is much more likely to be inspired by The Social Network and want to be entrepreneurs. The latest entrepreneur who has been pitching me, Shahed Khan , is only 16! But then the truth sets in. Even at 18.

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entrepreneurs entrepreneurship VC pitching 341

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I think the issue I have always had with investment bank pitches was best summed up in this article about Y Combinator in which Paul Graham apparently made the following quotes. They know how to build pitch decks. I value your insights into industries and your unrivaled networks. Advice to VCs Startup Advice'

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VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

VCs will spend over a year networking just to position around one founder or one deal, and if they lose it, it’s gone.” I read the pitch they had sent my friend. Startup Advice' .” Semil Shah wrote in this absolutely spot on post. Competition is fierce. ” That’s precisely it. Sometimes it comes.

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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 doubled down on my efforts, making more calls, writing more content, and networking tirelessly.

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financing finance entrepreneurship mentorship 255

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Incidentally, VC’s hate when they hear companies pitching who say, “ I don’t have real competitors &# as I outlined point three in the linked post). Tags: Start-up Advice. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. I know I didn’t.

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startup advice entrepreneurs networking 319

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.

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startup pitching advice consulting 349

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Notice that I didn’t say “social networking.” Much like iPhone is the only mobile platform in town, Facebook is the only “closed network” social networking platform in town. With players like Zynga and Playdom earning nine-fugure millions of dollars it’s clear that there is big money in monetizing social networks.

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VC venture capital networking innovation 255

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

I did 5 years of building large computer systems and computer networks for global corporations and 3+ years as a “strategy consultant.&# In many of the meetings you’d meet clients who would tell you everything you needed to know, would offer to help you and then would never follow up on the help that they had offered.

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frameworks consulting advice strategy 378

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Mentors are immensely helpful, but they’re not a requirement: We run articles regularly that explain how to create pitch decks and reach out to investors. I surveyed six seed- and early-stage investors to get their tactical advice for laid-off tech workers who are thinking about starting up. “IP is important to us.

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advice pitching startup ventures 91

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

They got us to fill out the details of where we worked in the past and the network effect compels us to keep it updated. So resume + directionally-correct social graph = goldmine for recruiting, networking and marketing. It doesn’t strike me as a “social network&# in the way we’ve come to define them.

transportation 309

transportation VC networking energy 309

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. It’s easy for a VC to just stick within your own networks and filter bubbles—and hard to scale being “open” without opening the floodgates.

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communities consulting creativity advice 350

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

They pitched on a Wednesday. And still able to make it out to LA networking events. Startup Advice' It’s not much different than having Dave Morin, Dick Costolo or Sheryl Sandberg sitting next to you at lunch. Turns out Punky was a childhood hero for Tasha. That’s cute. We had them a term sheet the same week.

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startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

So my advice to many is to study online companies that understand how to use technology for audience development, engagement, viral distribution and subscriptions. Some images will draw in viewers more than others and as it turns out the headlines & images that convert at different in each social network or distribution partner.

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advice education pitching technology 322

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

This lesson on NINAs applies to VC pitches as well as any sale. The most obvious way to know about your contact’s influence is to network with portfolio companies or other entrepreneurs that have pitched this VC before and get their insights. And get advice from them on how to best manage the approval process.

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VC pitching entrepreneurs advice 308

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2023

You need a solid business plan, traction to demonstrate market fit, and the skills to pitch effectively. Evaluate investors thoroughly, not just based on the size of their check, but whether they can provide strategic advice and introductions that support your vision. Seek investor advice to strengthen your business model.

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pitching consulting advice communities 213

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

If you want to learn more about “Pitching a VC&# make sure to check out the entire series here. Good bet they can give you the most recent and practical advice. Easier to start by networking with some of our investments. Social networks - When I raised capital in 1999 it was hard to know who knew the VCs.

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VC advice pitching networking 210

TechCrunch

MARCH 14, 2022

But the rules are different in startup-land: although there are basic best practices for putting together a pitch deck or term sheet, there are no hard rules for approaching potential investors. Tell us how you’d like to be approached by a founder with their initial pitch. Arvind Gupta, partner, Mayfield Fund.

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pitching advice communities health 91

TechCrunch

MARCH 17, 2023

If you’re a recently laid-off worker considering striking out on your own , an H-1B employee who’s had it up to here or just looking for tips and advice that can help you connect with early-stage investors, please read and share. There’s plenty of tactical advice here, and much more to come.

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pitching frameworks advice strategy 92

StartupNation

JUNE 1, 2021

Oftentimes, I read articles offering tips for entrepreneurs that revolve around generic advice on getting started. As part of my role as a partner of HealthInc, I sit on the jury for the startup competition in which 20 finalists pitch their ventures, with 10 then selected to enter the program. Keep it simple, stupid (KISS). Franklin D.

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entrepreneurs pitching construction accelerator 109

Dream It

DECEMBER 10, 2020

However, don’t forget that most likely, angels you’re pitching to want to offer their best advice and be part of your journey to success and changing the landscape of an industry. Jason did not have the network to raise a friends & family round when he launched his first company. How do you attract angel investors?

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angel investing investing investment networking 221

TechCrunch

APRIL 29, 2022

Dame shared one piece of advice that I’d never heard from an investor: more founders should learn to make themselves vulnerable. Pitch deck teardown: Minut. If you’d like to see your pitch deck featured on TechCrunch+, click through for details. Pitch Deck Teardown: Minut.

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pitching transportation accelerator consulting 84

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

MARCH 24, 2020

To celebrate Fatima’s work promoting financial literacy and wellness, the YLAI Network asked her a few questions about her journey to entrepreneurship. The YLAI Fellowship and Network have helped me achieve my mission by: Broadening my horizons. From very young, I was inspired to be an entrepreneur and to do great things.

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hospitality entrepreneurship communities financing 189

David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

Contestants pitch their legal product idea for a chance to win $5,000, tutoring, and more. The Baylor New Venture Competition is a business plan and elevator pitch competition for college students from around the globe. Student teams pitch and compete for more than $1.5 The competition has $50,000 in cash prizes.

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founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

If you’re lacking for track record as a firm, here’s three exercises you should walk through to help turn your pitch and due diligence meetings from guesswork into something more substantive. Obviously, that’s ideal, but that’s not where everyone starts. This is actually easily referenced. For example, let’s say I had a more national fund.

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ventures angel investing board advice 255

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 19, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Use the information you learn to refine your product, approach, and pitch. The best advice I can give is to dive in with the mindset that done is better than perfect.” Rick Kiessig – Cofounder. Fabulous ideas are a dime a dozen.

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founder advice incubation networking 119

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

CEO Network – CEO’s from the portfolio companies are introduced to each other. These partners travel to a city and take ten minute pitches from the entrepreneurs. What are the most common mistakes in first pitch? First Round Capital invests heavily in its own infrastructure to help add value to the portfolio companies.

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capital board VC pitching 284

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 25, 2022

The goals of such a meeting are the following: Give others enough information to form an adequate enough and objective picture of the business in order to check your blind spots and offer advice or other kinds of assitance (like intros to folks who have been there before or have the right skills to pitch in).

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board founder investing investment 333

TechCrunch

MARCH 15, 2023

If you’re a recently laid-off worker considering striking out on your own , an H-1B employee who’s had it up to here or just looking for tips and advice that can help you connect with early-stage investors, please read and share. We do that to prevent an issue with VC investors called “network bias.” They are in diligence now.

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pitching VC advice venture capital 97