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. startup ecosystem. I cant wait to see what you all accomplish next. Bark Tank and the Spirit of D.C.:

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Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

The product should be live if we hope to raise capital. Being self-sustainable has given us a new perspective on startup funding, especially compared to what I experienced on my first accelerator run. Here are some truths about what accelerators can be for startups: A small filter. The plan-sort of worked.

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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.

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Paul G. Silva

MARCH 26, 2020

This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. A startup is a bundle of risks. 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.

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Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Among them, VCs and startups are forced to interact remotely and make deals without ever shaking hands. 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.

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pitching advice health founder 285

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.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

Here are five aspects of PR I feel like most startups need to do more of: 1) Fit all PR into a long term plan. And please, please, please don''t pitch VCs who blog to write about your company as if we were tech journalists. Venture Capital & Technology'

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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.

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founder pitching mix-use venture capital 392

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Improving startup productivity ? Startup psychology / confidence ? Startup Lessons'

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advice frameworks startup mix-use 407

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. The startup ecosystem is a terrific manufacturer of bad fundraising advice. 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. I’m a female founder.

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advice pitching venture capital VC 450

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

I have one failed attempt at a startup under my belt as a founder and I don't have any particularly usable skills that anyone would pay for like selling, designing, building, etc. Conferences, startup blogs, meetups--they're all filled with people telling you how to build your company. Venture capital is kind of like a knuckleball.

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advice startup VC strategy 416

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.

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. That means that out of nearly $51 billion in funding that startups received over those two years, a comparatively teeny $1.5

venture capital 304

venture capital capital ventures founder 304

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 362

venture capital ventures capital consumer retail 362

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2015

I had a few VC friends who immediately saw the parallel but others were scratching their heads saying, “How is a physical storage company – even if you pitch it as “cloud” – really a tech company?” What tech has our capital raised gone into? ” Let’s start with some basics. ” Ha.

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real estate startup disruption incumbents 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. Boom in Number of Startups. There was an explosion in number of startups both because it was cheap and there was tons of available capital.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 24, 2014

These days, there are a ton of options for you if you''re a startup seeking guidence. We''ve done a lot to make sure startups get all the help we can get--and it''s leading to higher companies getting off the ground. Not every VC used to get pitched by VC funds for a living and has seen hundreds and hundreds of VC pitch decks.

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accelerator mentorship VC incubation 371

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

When I turn down the opportunity to invest in a startup, I really turn it down. It doesn''t help them improve their pitch or adjust their model. If an entrepreneur is going to invest their time pitching me or having a meeting--I''ll do my best to invest my time to have an opinion. Venture Capital & Technology'

pitching 367

pitching VC venture capital opportunity 367

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

We’ve all heard the anecdotes—the famous founder who pitched 1000 investors before any of them said yes. They think that if they just had enough money to market something, it would take off, yet whenever they pitch the app in front of a crowd of 100 people, the conversion and virality rate isn’t proven out at all.

startup 281

startup pitching venture capital founder 281

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Because, you know, who doesn''t love a good startup list. It''s a story of a mechanical engineer turned startup entrepreneur who has seen how NYC actually works (and built a company to help it run smooth) from as deep undergroud as the East Side Access Project under Grand Central and as high as the roof of the NY Times building.

peer-to-peer 362

peer-to-peer startup collaboration venture capital 362

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 startup economy is alive and well during the pandemic. Valuations continue to rise.

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ventures VC pitching innovation 362

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

I understand this instinct for more capital and I have two very different personal experiences: In my first company we raised an A-round of $16.5 conversation literally every week with startups. Every time you ask for money you’re faced with the possible of feeling literally and figuratively like a failure. million or $4 million.

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startup creativity entrepreneurs support 292

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

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 17, 2014

They just move too painfully slow to work with startups. 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. Panel prep calls.

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pitching financing finance incubation 344

Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Paul Martino, General Partner at Bullpen Capital. During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital?

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ventures startup capital board 334

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 17, 2014

Here are two contrasting startup stories I''ve seen firsthand. 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 second startup came to me from a founder of a company that I only found out later wasn''t fulltime.

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Dream It

APRIL 23, 2019

Dozens of healthcare-focused voice tech startups have popped up in the last few years which are backed by top tier venture funds. That’s why in this article, you’ll get a comprehensive look at the startups using voice technology to make healthcare better, along with some of the VC’s and accelerators that are backing them.

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hospitality startup health enablement 285

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. In fact, that''s what I tend to do--at least, what I say that I do.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. How Much Capital You Have Raised / Your Runway In general I recommend that in early-stage startups you try to raise at least 15-18 months of runway.

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startup venture capital capital VC 212

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Startups Are for Doers. But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking. Startups are filled with the stresses of the here and now and it’s hard to break out of this mold of focusing two feet in front of you. Board Meetings.

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creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

We refer to people as "great entrepreneurs" in the startup community all the time--but are they? It was like someone gave him the instruction manual on how to pitch and no one else had it. Sure enough, the very next pitch sent a screamer his way. That brought up the question of what makes someone truly great at something.

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pitching consulting entrepreneurs communities 411

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. 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. In a startup this is a mistake. Some final thoughts on PR.

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pitching media advice venture capital 319

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 4, 2023

Video pitching. I see an uptick in pitching via pre-recorded video. We used Loom to pre-record our pitch and share it with potential investors. It’s a great way to personalize a pitch deck and share it with interested parties. Stakeholder capitalism. Opportunity for startups. Here’s what they shared.

ecology 252

ecology entrepreneurship pitching entrepreneurs 252

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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VC pitching board construction 419

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).

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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. Balance is key!

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