This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2015

It's a story that just hit a milestone--a $4mm round of venture funding that I'm ecstatic to say Brooklyn Bridge Ventures just led. But just because you could see them everywhere doesn't make them an obvious venture bet--nor does it tell the story of how the round even came to be. At least, I thought it was.

venture capital 378

venture capital ventures capital consumer retail 378

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. billion went to women-led ventures.". I AM NOT ARGUING THAT WOMEN AREN''T SEEKING VENTURE CAPITAL.

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venture capital capital ventures founder 328

Paul G. Silva

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Practice Your Pitch and Save Your Social Capital Entrepreneurs benefit tremendously from practicing their pitch and Q&A. Using ChatGPT (version 4o), you can simulate an investor and practice your pitch – out loud! And the follow-on questions were indistinguishable from the what actual investors asked.

pitching 246

pitching advice sustainability entrepreneurs 246

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2023

It will be the 105th deal out of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, the firm I started back in September 2012, and it will be the last deal I’ll be making out of my third fund. It will also be my last venture capital deal. Around that time, I’ll be able to mark twenty years since I started as the first analyst at Union Square Ventures.

ventures 545

ventures investment investing VC 545

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 28, 2025

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a leading venture capital firm, says, “The thing that gets me most excited is the founder whos obsessed with solving a problem that matters, and is determined to keep going no matter what.” The keyword is compelling.

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pitching investment investing startup 82

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Will our strategy change now that we have 40% more capital? . We raised $280 million.

ventures 396

ventures VC venture capital real estate 396

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

Brooklyn Bridge Ventures came in first, with a whopping 61%. Lerer Ventures was second, with just under 20%. Take the most widely used number--that way fewer women are getting venture funding than guys. Most companies don''t ever raise venture capital and they do just fine. Well, it''s gotta mean something, right?

founder 400

founder pitching mix-use venture capital 400

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

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

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 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 enough traction.

advice 476

advice pitching venture capital VC 476

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 15, 2020

In venture, it’s all about getting an opportunity to make partner and being included in the carry—the economic upside of a fund. There are so many different ways to interpret the data on who gets venture and why. Lots of the data is skewed toward later stage rounds and I’ve never ever seen stats on who is pitching.

venture capital 327

venture capital ventures capital mentorship 327

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

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. By Charles LaCalle Director of Sourcing at Dreamit Ventures.

pitching 286

pitching incumbents transportation strategy 286

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. Read Part 1.

pitching 285

pitching advice health founder 285

Dream It

APRIL 21, 2020

When pitching investors, remember that your ask is like porridge; it follows the goldilocks ratio and has to be just right. Here are some common red flags for venture investors: Red Flag #1 : Ask isn’t tied to specific fundable milestones. Add 3-6 additional months of capital to your total funding requested.

ventures 351

ventures pitching frameworks founder 351

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Maximilian Fleitmann , an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member primarily based in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, is the CEO of BaseTemplates and Partner at Richmond View Ventures. 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.

pitching 256

pitching entrepreneurs venture capital ventures 256

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. Venture Capital & Technology' Not every potentially good VC previously worked for Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman.

accelerator 388

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 388

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

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

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 26, 2020

This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. Spell out for people why your team is right for your venture. 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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pitching startup hospitality funders 162

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: .

venture capital 136

venture capital capital ventures innovation 136

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

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.

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.

pitching 369

pitching financing finance incubation 369

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 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.

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.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

I''ve closed three investments in the first Brooklyn Bridge Ventures fund that haven''t quite been made public yet, bringing the total to 13 companies. And please, please, please don''t pitch VCs who blog to write about your company as if we were tech journalists. Venture Capital & Technology'

startup 402

startup construction venture capital financing 402

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. Once you do distribute the capital, you’re giving it to companies that will need a lot of help. Will you be going to the gym at all?

ventures 281

ventures angel investing board advice 281

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'

pitching 375

pitching consulting VC venture capital 375

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

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? Sam moved back to NY and we announced our seed round of capital, which we led.

real estate 380

real estate ventures innovation pitching 380

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 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. I have no idea. Every single firm is different.

VC 419

VC pitching board construction 419

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. I am inspired by the constant innovation in our industry by First Round Capital like the Dorm Room Fund , their expansion to Philadelphia (I hope they also have a secret plot to replace Andy Reid while there), the exchange fund and other initiative. Board Meetings.

creativity 400

creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

American Entrepreneurship

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

Startups, early-stage and growth-stage companies present their models to a gathering of angel investors and venture capital firms The Venture Atlanta Conference, set to take place on October 8-9, 2024, at The Woodruff Arts Center and Atlanta Symphony Hall, is one of the most anticipated entrepreneurial events in the southeast U.S.

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entrepreneurs ventures pitching mentorship 98