This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 24, 2014

Not every VC used to get pitched by VC funds for a living and has seen hundreds and hundreds of VC pitch decks. Venture capitalists play an important role in burgeoning ecosystems. In particular, I''m always trying to improve as a board member, but their aren''t any programs or classes for that.

accelerator 368

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 368

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2015

That's one thing you have to realize about venture capital. I realized that I judge a lot of hackathons, pitch competitions and other various things on the weekends, and felt like I was losing at least 2 out of my 8 weekend days--so I gave myself back those days. There are weird parts, like board meetings being an hour a day.

VC 419

VC pitching board construction 419

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Board Meetings. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital?

creativity 400

creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

Turns out being in a quiet place with good WIFI minding someone who basically just eats and sleeps most of the time while tethered to all manner of monitors actually makes for a great work environment for venture capital. She’s even been on several board calls already and last week showed up on her first pitch call.

hospitality 477

hospitality board energy pitching 477

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 17, 2012

I am ecstatic to announce the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures --my new seed investment fund. It is the first venture capital fund based in Brooklyn--the city’s most exciting and creative borough. I’m looking forward to continuing the dialogue about Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and furthering our community together.

ventures 316

ventures creativity communities venture capital 316

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

We’ve gone from just having Howard’s office at Partsearch, with Chris parking himself at Niles close to Penn Station, with Phin living on Amtrak and Josh squeezing pitches in between board meetings, to a real office right in Union Square—in my opinion one of the best in the city.

board 267

board incubation pitching communities 267

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. Ask SuperCell. Or UrbanAirship. This isn’t a complaint.

VC 365

VC board communities pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

I have sat on a board with Howard and have known him a few years. In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital.

capital 284

capital board VC pitching 284

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

The point is, someone building a career in venture capital that doesn't include prior entrepreneurial success probably doesn't look like they have much to offer in the beginning. So how can a relatively junior VC hope to add any value to an investment and on a board--and is it enough value that you should have one on your board?

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 2, 2023

The venture asset class seems to have already decided that AI is the next great investment opportunity, but I’m not so sure it’s going to disrupt business and create the across-the-board wealth that has been predicted. I got to see all of the top VCs pitching their funds. Technology has already made the world pretty efficient.

opportunity 253

opportunity investing investment disruption 253

American Entrepreneurship

DECEMBER 4, 2024

Recognizing this, The Veteran Fund announced the winner of its $100,000 Veteran Pitch Competition and the recent closing of its inaugural oversubscribed investment Fund I. Sutton, an entrepreneur, is a Board Member of YPO, a global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives, and the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

leadership 97

leadership startup accelerator mentorship entrepreneurship 97

Revolution

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

What we did: Tige Savage and Revolution Ventures Associate, Carl Leacock , headed to the Renaissance City for Renaissance Venture Capital ’s Fall UnDemo Day, an event connecting VCs from across the country with startups based in Michigan. Catch insights from Steve and a recap of the pitch competition.

venture capital 246

venture capital pitching board ventures 246

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 2, 2010

Too many entrepreneurs start out their business endeavors with an investment pitch. So if we’re talking everyone getting funded without getting the benefit of an experienced set of mentors in a small, focused program like TechStars, or a lead investor who will spend a lot of time with you upfront, I’m not on board with that.

startup 253

startup entrepreneurship venture capital mentorship 253

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Besides, there were a limited number of places where I could do my job in venture capital anyway—and while I might be a go to for a pitch from super early stage pre-seed and seed founders looking for quick answers and decisive term sheets in New York City, the reality is that I would be pretty far down the list in the Valley.

culture 356

culture VC communities education 356

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

When people tell you how and why they raised capital or what drove their app to success, they often attribute success to planning or neat little explainable reasons when they might simply have no clue what happened. Venture capital is kind of like a knuckleball.

advice 416

advice startup VC strategy 416

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor. The reality is that their core business is not venture capital.

advice 279

advice venture capital frameworks entrepreneurs 279

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2010

Of course I knew that they sat on other boards that kept them busy but somehow it seemed like I had all of their attention to myself during the fund raising process – especially the ones who seemed to like me and spend time with me. Imagine he or she sits on the boards of 5 companies. Imagine your VC as an airport.

VC 275

VC venture capital pitching board 275

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 7, 2013

In many cases, I got to know the entrepreneur before they were pitching or even had a deck. Venture Capital & Technology' That''s the difference between fulltime investors, angels who focus on particular areas of expertise, and "drop-ins". Tell me how I''m being unreasonable.

investment 335

investment investing construction venture capital 335

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Pitching is all about telling a story. You''ve been to demo days and pitch meetups and read Techcrunch and Mashable about product launches. What the hell are you pitching? If we raise, the head of marketing from the Ab Rollee has agreed to come on board.". Venture Capital & Technology' Come, on, seriously.

pitching 290

pitching venture capital energy technology 290

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Luckily for aspirational baseball players, pitch velocity, spin rate, and just about every other aspect of playing baseball are highly quantifiable in real-time. Venture capital is basically the complete opposite. You throw a pitch and you don’t find out the speed for a year or even longer. So I asked them.

pitching 243

pitching peer-to-peer board VC 243

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

By then I was still on the board of my first company but it hadn’t yet sold (it ended up selling in 2007 to a publicly traded French company). Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. Many term sheets ensued. So by this point I hadn’t had an exit.

founder 329

founder VC advice pitching 329

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

What’s that investor going to be like in a board meeting when you as a female founder need their support or worse, actually their vote? Do you think whatever misogyny is driving their paternalistic approach to women’s health is going to somehow morph into a vote of confidence for you in the face of criticism from other board members?

finance 417

finance financing board VC 417

David Teten VC

APRIL 1, 2021

Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies. Relationships with Venture Partners, Entrepreneurs in Residence , and other non-salaried personnel who can help your companies. Organize events in your vertical. Fundraising. Recruiting.

venture capital 81

venture capital accelerator capital ventures 81

TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

But dealmaking is idiosyncratic: a few investors might be content to make a deal over coffee, but early-stage teams still need a sturdy pitch deck or memo they can leave behind. I’m going to save you some time: many (if not most) of you are not yet ready to pitch an investor. Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to respond!

pitching 98

pitching incubation board opportunity 98

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 1, 2013

You deserve to have someone who can help you build your company on board, and who will ask the tough questions you need to hear, without taking six weeks to decide. I''m going to rededicate myself to being even more responsive to founders--coming to decisions right there in the first pitch when I know it''s a no.

venture capital 281

venture capital pitching board investment 281

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. It’s why I wrote that the best meetings are debates and not pitches.

VC 299

VC board pitching venture capital 299

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 16, 2012

His story of overcoming child abuse, a missing arm ligament, a decade in the minors and going on to reinvent himself in his mid-30's using a pitch few have mastered is nothing short of inspirational. Oh, did I mention it turns out he's been pitching with a torn abdominal muscle all season? The movie centers around a lawsuit.

pitching 264

pitching frameworks construction consulting 264

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. Yet talk to virtually any FRC company and they’ll tell you that these guys are some of the most active board members and offer some of the best advice in the industry. I would say the same thing about True Ventures. They do many early-stage deals.

VC 283

VC real estate advice venture capital 283

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

While this post is written about raising venture capital (which I always remind entrepreneurs IS a sales process) the lessons can be applied to any sale or biz dev deal. This lesson on NINAs applies to VC pitches as well as any sale. Some people have authority (A). Somebody with authority is a decision maker.

VC 308

VC pitching entrepreneurs advice 308

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2011

Advisors, investors and board members come in all shapes and sizes. I'm a strong believer in having a board, even at a seed stage, to report to and set strategy with. The most successful companies have strong boards and so as a good housekeeping practice, why not start acting like a great company as early as possible.

board 278

board advice consulting angel investing 278

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

These can be called: Operating Partners, Venture Partners, Board Partners or similar. They might sponsor an occasional deal, they might be looking to jump in and run a company or they might take the board seat if the firm invests. We also take input from our board partners and from our non-partner investment staff.

VC 314

VC board investing investment 314

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

Kinda seems like that sometimes, right—that the venture capital community seems to chase after the bright shiny object of the moment in droves and then just as quickly moves on to the next new new thing. Undaunted, he went back to work, got some great partners on board, and kept plugging away. Geolocation is so 2009.

VC 186

VC venture capital media board 186

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. The partner you saw is probably sitting on 5-6 boards which means he or she will be busy helping existing portfolio companies. Start with a very short thank you email the day after your pitch.

VC 277

VC pitching advice strategy 277

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 4, 2017

One aspect of venture capital that rarely gets talked about is competition to get into a deal. The tables turn and the one being pitched to becomes the one pitching. I take 150+ pitch meetings a year, and probably do a speaking thing every other week if not more.

pitching 188

pitching VC venture capital board 188

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 7, 2014

There''s no board. In fact, I got pitched by a startup that told me nearly a quarter of all peak reservations at top places get cancelled the same day. Venture Capital & Technology' People are up in arms over Reservationhop --the service that sells off hard to get reservations made under assumed names. How dare they!

venture capital 298

venture capital pitching board technology 298

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

Because I’ve observed this process dozens and dozens of times both as somebody who has had to raise capital for nearly 20 years himself and as an investor on the board of companies where we’re raising money — I thought I’d jot down some thoughts for those who will raise in the years ahead. So GET BACK IN FRONT OF THEM! Start early.

pitching 238

pitching VC mix-use entrepreneurs 238

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

with $15 million to Prove It The venture capital world has started firing up a few cylinders again and looking for businesses that it believes will help us all succeed in ways that resonate with new ways of working as we begin to return to work. Ryan Smith, the founder of Qualtrics, also invested and has joined the board of directors.

communities 234

communities peer-to-peer venture capital enablement 234