Revolution

JANUARY 27, 2025

Reflections on Georgetowns 2025 pitch competition from TedLeonsis Last week, Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business once again became a launchpad for the next generation of bold thinkers and doers. Witnessing your passion gives me even greater confidence in the Districts ability to lead the next wave of innovation.

entrepreneurship 100

entrepreneurship capital pitching startup ecosystem 100

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

The diversity is the direct result of our mission—to build the most accessible venture capital fund in NY. When you conflate hyperbole for ambition and realism for lack of aggressiveness, you will ultimately wind up shutting out a lot of groups from the game of risk seeking capital and opportunity. I don’t require warm intros.

venture capital 413

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 413

Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely. We hear startups pitch everyday and far too often founders end up joining the meeting late.

pitching 285

pitching advice health founder 285

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

Pitch deck outlines are ok, but they don’t say much about what you’re trying to convey besides particular categories that may or may not be relevant. Too often people only pitch what they have, not where they’re going—and they forget that fundraising is selling tickets to the future, not asking for rewards for the past.

pitching 351

pitching VC peer-to-peer founder 351

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. Founders hit the street with their pitch deck, some make it, and some don’t, but nearly all of them ascribe a lot more human influence over the process than there probably is. Or that venture capital is a meritocracy? I’m a female founder. I don’t have a technical co-founder.

advice 476

advice pitching venture capital VC 476

Dream It

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Getting investors excited about your product is a critical part of raising capital. But founders are often so consumed with talking metrics, milestones achieved, or the capital they need that they sometimes forget to talk about their overarching vision for their startups. It’s not about the slide deck.

pitching 286

pitching incumbents transportation strategy 286

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

Most companies don''t ever raise venture capital and they do just fine. That''s a much better picture of female entrepreneurship than the 2-4% of venture capital dollars going to women. The main driver of the skew towards men getting venture capital, statistically, is that far more men are pitching.

founder 400

founder pitching mix-use venture capital 400

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 1, 2014

We all have our inherent biases and what I am not arguing here is that the venture capital world is a fair playing field for anyone. I repeat: I AM NOT ARGUING THAT VENTURE CAPITAL IS FAIR TO ANYONE. We really don''t know, because we''re missing some critical information: HOW MANY WOMEN ARE SEEKING VENTURE CAPITAL?

venture capital 328

venture capital capital ventures founder 328

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2021

He has raised venture capital for his startups, helped hundreds of founders craft their pitch decks and fundraising strategy, and invested as a business angel. We asked him how founders can create the perfect pitch deck for their company. Some of these pitches were very informal, sitting at the bar or walking around.

pitching 256

pitching entrepreneurs venture capital ventures 256

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

I was working for the GM pension fund, an institutional LP, as an analyst, doing a research project on consumer private equity and venture capital investing. After getting to know Ben from the tech community, he pitched me his concept for a CPG food company. Leading an investment into an ice cream chain, however, that's another beast.

venture capital 378

venture capital ventures capital consumer retail 378

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 26, 2020

This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. Bad example: “This round of financing will be used primarily on working capital to keep us alive until we’re ready for the next stage.”. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. The one (maybe two) number rule. Just put the final number.

pitching 162

pitching startup hospitality funders 162

Dream It

JANUARY 8, 2020

In the episode, Steve asked Ron about his “five slide pitch deck.” How much will you invest in marketing and other capital intensive resources? Read Ron’s article on his five slide pitch deck here. How will you grow your company to provide value for your investors? Will you be hiring developers or sales people?

pitching 195

pitching opportunity board founder 195

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

There was an explosion in number of startups both because it was cheap and there was tons of available capital. The other major trend of 2012–2015 was the entrance of “non VCs” into late-stages of venture capital , which mostly consisted of hedge funds, mutual funds, corporate investors, sovereign wealth funds and even LPs doing direct deals.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

It doesn''t help them improve their pitch or adjust their model. If you take a smart home pitch, and you turn it down because you''re not certain how the smart home segment will play out, what you should have done was tell the entrepreneur this, but offer up the opportunity to shed some light. Venture Capital & Technology'

pitching 385

pitching VC venture capital opportunity 385

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. All of these people in my inbox who want to get into VC need to go raise $10mm of institutional capital to fund 10 VCs over the next two years in a VC accelorator program. Venture Capital & Technology'

accelerator 388

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 388

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

In fact, you could make the argument that, because of their lack of advantages in other areas, the ones who make it to a venture pitch actually have more of these raw ingredients because they’ve had to in order to make it to the same destination as their straight white male counterparts. The reasons why are plentiful and probably overlapping.

ventures 435

ventures networking creativity entrepreneurship 435

Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

The product should be live if we hope to raise capital. The press enhances this misconception around YCombinator demo days, where the 3-day pitch event is perceived like an auction, with investors fighting each other for the best deals. Don't get me wrong; the pitch deck is a crucial document (trust me, it's what we do).

startup 334

startup accelerator pitching venture capital 334

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 31, 2014

Even if you haven''t gotten offers yet, your time is valuable and you can''t pitch everyone. You feel like you have a decent shot of successfully raising, so you want to prioritize who to pitch to first. When you pitch, tell a firm how they can be helpful. How did you pick who to pitch? Venture Capital & Technology'

VC 393

VC pitching venture capital capital 393

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 15, 2020

Lots of the data is skewed toward later stage rounds and I’ve never ever seen stats on who is pitching. There are so many different ways to interpret the data on who gets venture and why.

venture capital 327

venture capital ventures capital mentorship 327

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.

pitching 393

pitching board health VC 393

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 14, 2020

The NVCA and Pitch Book are out with their Q3 report on the VC industry and what they report is that the VC industry continues to be very active throughout the pandemic. The massive expansion of later-stage private capital continues unabated. The massive expansion of later-stage private capital continues unabated.

ventures 362

ventures VC pitching innovation 362

American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 5, 2024

Three finalists received training via workshops and coaching from business advisors, fine-tuning their business plans and pitches for the showcase and pitch competition. In addition to its classroom curriculum, NFTE hosts the Founders Forum Pitch Competition.

pitching 111

pitching founder entrepreneurship education 111

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 17, 2014

Takes an hour or an hour and a half at most and everyone gets the benefit of a public conversation--versus three or four hours of pitches. Those kinds of requests feel desperate and not only undermine their pitch, but it''s still real time that adds up. Venture Capital & Technology' Panel prep calls. That makes no sense to me.

pitching 369

pitching financing finance incubation 369

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 17, 2014

With the author staying close as an advisor, they build a real, cashflow positive business and start to think about where they could go with some outside capital. The first pitch I got was from someone who didn''t intend on staying with the business as an employee. Venture Capital & Technology' How is that story being told?

pitching 375

pitching consulting VC venture capital 375

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

If all my deals came as intros from trusted connections that I know for years versus at founder pitch events that''s interesting data. If you meet someone at a pitch event, they''ve already got a company and they''re looking to close as quickly as possible. Venture Capital & Technology'

VC 418

VC pitching networking venture capital 418

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Go pitch a VC with an idea, and they''ll tell you to build it. Venture Capital & Technology' Go to them with a prototype and they''ll tell you to launch it. Launch it, and they''ll tell you to get more users. Get users and they''ll tell you to get paying customers. Let''s remember that, people.

venture capital 400

venture capital pitching health VC 400

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2023

It will also be my last venture capital deal. Venture capital is a pretty opaque industry and if I can shed some light on what it’s like to do this, or to decide to stop doing it, I’m happy to help. I’ve decided that this is long enough for me—especially given the fact that when you’re in venture capital, you don’t just stop.

ventures 545

ventures investment investing VC 545

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 24, 2018

If you’re going that route—here are a couple of things I would suggest: Have at least six months of personal expenses in the bank —and that’s only if you know you can at least get some angel capital based around your connections to investors, friends, family, etc. Build a following around what you’re doing.

pitching 358

pitching angel capital consulting enablement 358

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.

VC 419

VC pitching board construction 419

Startup Blogpost

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

20 Tips for Pitching New Business Ideas to Potential Investors To provide you with the best advice on pitching new business ideas to investors, we asked twenty CEOs, Founders, and other professionals for their top tips. You should highlight the potential future earnings while pitching your proposal.

pitching 105

pitching strategy investment investing 105

AsiaTechDaily

OCTOBER 26, 2023

The new initiative includes a strategic partnership with the highly anticipated X-PITCH 2023, a global deeptech startup competition aimed at catalyzing the widespread adoption of cutting-edge technology across diverse industries. “We see immense potential in partnering with X-PITCH.

pitching 105

pitching real estate creativity innovation 105

David Teten VC

MAY 26, 2021

How do you raise money for your venture capital or private equity fund from family offices and high net worths? . I see five innovative new methods for raising capital which emerging managers such as Versatile VC are using, which I’ve ranked in roughly descending order of popularity: . The costs are highly dependent on the platform.

venture capital 136

venture capital capital ventures innovation 136

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

It was like someone gave him the instruction manual on how to pitch and no one else had it. One time, he was sitting next to a player in the dugout and told him that he should move or he's going to get hit with a foul ball on the next pitch. Sure enough, the very next pitch sent a screamer his way. This next one is easy.

pitching 413

pitching consulting entrepreneurs communities 413

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. Are pitch decks still necessary?

pitching 98

pitching incubation board opportunity 98

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

And please, please, please don''t pitch VCs who blog to write about your company as if we were tech journalists. Venture Capital & Technology' The more you help a journalist out by being a source for expertise, stories, tips, the more likely they are to cover you in the future.

startup 402

startup construction venture capital financing 402

Revolution

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Since the beginning of modern venture capital investing — a relatively nascent asset class — the industry has been biased toward funding what it knows best: founders with familiar demographics (white, male) in familiar geographies (Silicon Valley).

innovation 264

innovation investment investing pitching 264

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2021

Below is a link to the pitch video. There wasn’t any context around it—not exactly something I’d call a “pitch”. I explained that this wasn’t really a pitch because it lacked all sorts of context. Having been called out, I set up a meeting—but I didn’t do it to take a charity pitch. Who was the team?

pitching 243

pitching transportation consulting creativity 243