Dream It

MAY 19, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin presents his view on the right way to answer it after hearing hundreds, if not thousands, of founder pitches. Make the specific amount you are raising and corresponding milestones clear at the beginning of the pitch, and do not give a range. The amount you're raising is your ask.

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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.

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Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

In New York, for instance, there are now venture funds with a West Coast mentality and firms with an East Coast mentality; the same is true for firms in San Francisco. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital? The biggest question for a venture firm is whether LPs will fail to make capital calls in a crisis. “It

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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. Out of those, I take about 150 new pitches a year--about 3 a week.

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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. Taking board seats? Want to only invest in diverse boards? Obviously, that’s ideal, but that’s not where everyone starts. For how long?

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ventures angel investing board advice 257

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2014

First, I''ve finished raising the first Brooklyn Bridge Ventures fund--tallying $8.3 These are things that other VCs think about, but founders who come to pitch don''t think about too much. I''m announcing two things today. Was the fund enough to keep me going? How many more investments could I do? How where things going?

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? I think it’s great for some people because it really does give you some solid benefits: board exposure / experience.

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investing investment VC board 365

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.

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opportunity investing investment disruption 254

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.

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hospitality board energy pitching 478

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. Importantly … I would pitch investors in SF, NY, Boston, LA, etc.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Venture capitalists have raised increasing amounts of money from their investors (LPs) every year. Every consultant was pitching a process for reinventing your organization through BI. Make sure your board challenges you enough about long-term vision & innovation. Since 2009 we’ve been in an unequivocal bull market.

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incubation board VC innovation 354

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?

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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.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Keep reading for some more of the most common mistakes startups make when pitching and for Steve’s tips on how to fix them. Investors want to hear, “Our unique insight is __”… in your pitch 2. End your pitch with something along the lines of, “So, is this something you feel you would like to get behind?” co-founder).

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? Tech Market Analysis Upfront Ventures makespace' And could we then compete?”

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real estate ventures innovation pitching 380

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2013

Secondly, it was easier for the entrepreneurs to pitch in front of a roomful of a lot of money than one at a time. In the public stock market, activist investors rally institutionals to affect change in the investing landscape--keeping boards in check. Are they members of the same food co-op or school board? What does that mean?

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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.

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culture VC communities education 360

Revolution

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

What we did: The Rise of the Rest team kicked off October with a trip to Chi-Town to catch up with portfolio companies Blueprint , Unreal Estate , and Rheaply and co-investor, Chicago Ventures. Catch insights from Steve and a recap of the pitch competition. Where we went: Cincinnati, OH? Where we went: Detroit, MI?

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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. Just saying your product is AI-driven will not cut it.

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pitching incubation board opportunity 98

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. Actually, it’s even worse than that.

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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?

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

It’s something Yves Sisteron & I have been talking about for years at Upfront Ventures. They originally pitched us with a hacked but super productive prototype they built in their fraternity room and a rendering of a beautiful bookshelf sized in-home growing system that they committed to building. ” Enter Grove.

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Dream It

MAY 4, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin reveals the right approach on how to answer the valuation question when pitching VCs. Valuation is not set by you, your team, your investors, or your board. We then back out the maximum post-money valuation to deliver a venture-level return. Valuation is part art, part science.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

Venture capital is kind of like a knuckleball. Half the time, founders were pitching a completely different idea than what took off--so the VC who looks brilliant for funding the latest viral app really funded a B2B product that never took off. Even the guy tossing it around has no clue why it winds up where it does.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 29, 2022

During TechCrunch’s Early Stage event, she headlined a session dedicated to giving feedback on pitch decks. Constructing pitch decks is part art and part science. Each week on TechCrunch Live , a founder and investor present an early pitch deck that won significant capital investment.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

My friend and fellow SoCal venture capitalist Peter Lee wrote a post about the different roles within a VC and spent much time on the role of an associate. Then there is the EIR (entrepreneur in residence) who is usually at a VC for a temporary period of time and other individuals such as venture partners or operating partners.

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StartupNation

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

In the startup world, it’s pitch decks, not business plans that get companies funded. Making a pitch deck is an art, a science, but most importantly, a story. Angel investors and venture capitalists have also learned to expect a standard pitch deck as the first filter when evaluating a company to invest in.

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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.

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StartupNation

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Interest was high, and I had a decision to make: would I go all-in on this new, potentially successful business venture, which would require quitting my job, leveraging every ounce of our family savings and investments, and taking on significant debt? Before I pitched my product on “Shark Tank,” I did a deep dive into previous episodes.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Improve your pitch: Startup Battlefield isn’t just thrilling to watch; it’s a masterclass in how investors think. All right, here are the final five business Brahmins who will help judge the Startup Battlefield pitch competition. Aileen Lee , founding partner at Cowboy Ventures. David Tisch , managing partner at BoxGroup.

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disruption VC ventures startup 91

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling You can’t try to meet the executive team at Bird to understand the Upfront Ventures partnership dynamics because they’re too damn busy dealing with explosive growth. This is critical to build a cohesive venture capital firm.

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This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Board meetings at @amplehills are dangerous. Yet, the lessons learned from their $8mm round of funding announced this week are still widely applicable to every startup--particularly food startups and those in four walls retail that struggle through the traditional venture process. Would we pitch Series A players?

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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.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 20, 2021

In the latter half of the episode, those same guests give live feedback to folks in the audience who come on our virtual stage and pitch their products. Truth be told, everyone loves a good pitch-off. So in these upcoming Startup Alley Edition episodes of Extra Crunch Live, we’re turning the entire episode into a pitch-off.

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pitching disruption startup board 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

bang on the windows of a board meeting recently and stick his tongue out at all of us. They pitched on a Wednesday. Ex Venture Capitalist with Battery Ventures. Heck, I even had Robert Downey, Jr. And Tasha never screamed before? We’re in LA. They’re only people. That’s cute. Competitive sportswoman.

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startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 1, 2013

Right or wrong, I''ve got an instinct that comes from being in and around startups and venture investing for over twelve years. 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. Venture Capital & Technology'

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