Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

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. 2- You'll meet your lead investor in Demo Day That's not how Demo Days work, and it's one of the reasons Dreamit eventually replaced it for the Investor Roadshow.

startup 334

startup accelerator pitching venture capital 334

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 23, 2024

As entrepreneurs, we know these presentations can be deal-makers or deal-breakers. Vladimir has shared his expertise to help entrepreneurs get the most for your printing budget and save big on custom-printed materials and take advantage of downtime in a recession to build your brand.

creativity 267

creativity sustainability pitching entrepreneurs 267

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc. Demo’d to death. We’ve all been demo-day’d to death. So we went for it. See point one!

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

TechCrunch

APRIL 28, 2021

The Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, an incubator based in New York, is introducing 12 new companies at its 20th demo day tomorrow. Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said that demo day was today. So without any further ado, here are the 12 companies launching out of ERA tomorrow.

accelerator 94

accelerator entrepreneurs startup SaaS 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I’m comfortable with introductions and then getting into the demo.&#. I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Just jump into the demo after intros.

VC 299

VC board pitching venture capital 299

Innovation 2 Enterprise

JANUARY 30, 2024

On Wednesday, January 24, the inaugural cohort of startups from i2E’s Bridge2 Pre-Accelerator program presented their groundbreaking innovations during the Bridge2 Demo Day at Sailor & The Dock in Oklahoma City. During Demo Day, attendees heard pitch presentations from five founders who participated in the initial Bridge2 cohort.

mentorship 96

mentorship SaaS accelerator pitching 96

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I spent time on college campuses.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I spent time on college campuses.

VC 347

VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. And it’s true that I still take a whole lot of first meetings with entrepreneurs.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, Don’t even get me started on Demo Days. You could spent 20 days / year at Demo Days now. And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences.

VC 374

VC investing investment entrepreneurs 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2012

I refuse to go to demo days. Not just TechStars but any demo day, really. So I promised the guys that I would come and hang out with companies well before their demo days. Entrepreneur Dinners. One of my favorite things to do is to organize entrepreneur dinners when I travel. We’ll see. Yet I love TechStars.

pitching 319

pitching culture entrepreneurs mentorship 319

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 19, 2013

Paul''s point is all about being upfront and honest, which is ironic, because Demo Days seem to be one giant dog and pony show where the flashiest, biggest talking companies seem to get the most attention. That''s why it''s so important for investors and entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know each other.

pitching 279

pitching venture capital strategy innovation 279

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Demo days at startup accelerators are a pretty big deal around here. These events aren’t just a chance to review the latest cohort of hopeful entrepreneurs — they also showcase the technology, products and services that will compete for VC and consumer attention over the next few years. That startup was DoorDash, by the way.

SaaS 113

SaaS startup pitching education 113

TechCrunch

MARCH 1, 2021

As the next Y Combinator demo day approaches, more startups from the current Winter 2021 batch are showing up in our inboxes. Notably, even though it has already raised capital, BrioHR intends to take part in Y Combinator’s demo day. Then again, what company at any demo day would? Personio raises $125M on a $1.7B

SaaS 105

SaaS mix-use accelerator founder 105

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 14, 2012

Sun's space was for it's customer assistance unit and Cornell just had a demo space patched into a supercomputer back on campus. I'm sure their Summer Camp demo day will be the first time a lot of VCs have set foot in the thriving outer borough. Unfortunately, there wasn't much actual tech being built in 55 Broad.

coworking spaces 338

coworking spaces communities coworking accelerator 338

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

What I wish for every single entrepreneur out there is to be so majorly disappointed in their lives. I'm proud to say that I was dollars number 476 and 477 to be swiped on the platform after Jack demoed the very first prototype to me on a bench in Washington Square Park in late summer 2009. A "major disappointment".

angel investing 407

angel investing venture capital VC media 407

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. uBeam’s tech does work and I have safely seen it demo’d in the real life many times. Entrepreneurs. ” **. . ” **.

startup 417

startup innovation entrepreneurs transportation 417

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 15, 2011

So if you're going to come to NYC and you want to make an impact, you better bring your A-game, and that's exactly what Techstars did yesterday at Demo Day. That's not easy to do here, because there are a ton of other great entrepreneurs and opportunities here. I've never seen a better production in the Big Apple, ever.

incubation 282

incubation communities entrepreneurs opportunity 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

Your product demo crushed. This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs. At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. The dialog was great.

pitching 381

pitching board funders entrepreneurs 381

TechCrunch

MARCH 8, 2023

Garin Hess, a tech entrepreneur based in Utah, experienced what he calls the “ demo bottleneck ” at a previous software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup while pitching to potential customers. Consensus lets engineering teams build a library of reusable, interactive video demos that sales teams can send out on demand.

SaaS 108

SaaS consulting pitching accelerator 108

TechCrunch

MARCH 5, 2021

Pangea , a marketplace startup that wants to connect college freelancers and companies in need of digital help, is seeing its growth rate accelerate as it races toward the impending Y Combinator demo day. Early Stage is the premier “how-to” event for startup entrepreneurs and investors.

accelerator 107

accelerator media startup entrepreneurs 107

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 20, 2012

Most entrepreneurs aren't qualified for their jobs--including about 100% of the first timers. Sure, they had a demo or a prototype or something, but investors know the product will change. I was talking to an entrepreneur the other day, and I asked, "Do you feel like you have a good idea of how you should be spending your time?".

peer-to-peer 402

peer-to-peer pitching consulting creativity 402

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry. He was also an undergraduate of the one place that I think is cranking out some of the best young entrepreneurs and investors these days – Wharton.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Of course I’ve talked about wanting to get to know entrepreneurs over long periods of time ( lines, not dots ) – my most referred to post. I seek out great entrepreneurs. I avoid Demo Days like the plague and have publicly said so. By the time it’s hit demo day I’m too late. End of story.

VC 337

VC consulting strategy entrepreneurs 337

Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Contributed to EO by Steve Ferman, an EO New Jersey member, serial entrepreneur, and founder of 4 Pillar Coach. For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. These groups are easy to find and fairly inexpensive to join. and more articles from the EO blog.

culture 260

culture incubation entrepreneurs media 260

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Can we do a really quick run through your deck so that we save tons of time for a product demo & questions at the end?&#. Most entrepreneurs are. It’s in their personality type.

VC 358

VC entrepreneurs creativity leadership 358

American Entrepreneurship

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

This annual gathering brings together a dynamic mix of entrepreneurs, angel investors, and venture capitalists from the surrounding states, creating a fertile ground for innovation, networking, and investment opportunities. Following the afternoon Techstars Demo Day is the Female Founders in Innovation Dinner.

entrepreneurs 98

entrepreneurs ventures pitching mentorship 98

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. I always encourage young entrepreneurs now to flip burgers for as long as they can. Fast forward 5 years to my second company.

startup founder 299

startup founder founder startup VC 299

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Demos – One of the things that most people are bad at and that are hard to standardize is the demo. I have written about how to do a demo before (even though this was in the context of a VC pitch much of it applies). A good demo tells a story. 80% of demos I see are features, functions & benefits.

advice 296

advice SaaS startup pitching 296

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product. I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Act III – The Demo.

VC 238

VC advice pitching venture capital 238

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2012

Given the proliferation of accelerators and incubators that pre-vet entrepreneurs, roll up their sleeves to help companies, and dress them up for demo days, the best and brightest are being showcased to look better than ever. Pick what you want off the menu and someone will provide that service for you.

VC 272

VC incubation construction networking 272

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

And a few teams of super talented, educated and bright entrepreneurs make a few mill. Get yourself in a big demo day competition. I look for entrepreneurs who set out on their journeys to do exactly that – build big businesses. I don’t blame entrepreneurs who go for an early exit when it comes up.

strategy 357

strategy venture capital advice entrepreneurs 357

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Crypto entrepreneurs still have room to grow, but they would be well served to get on the good side of regulators, says Stephen Aschettino, U.S. Our 11 favorite companies from YC’s S22 Demo Day. ” Our 11 favorite companies from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 1. Our 10 favorite startups from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 2.

VC 86

VC pitching founder startup 86

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

entrepreneurs 176

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 176

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2010

And I saw a bunch of demos of beta services spliced in between the talks.” I saw Marco Arment talk about building Instapaper on the side while he was CTO of our portfolio company Tumblr. You didn’t hear about it, that is, unless you followed some of the most innovative designers and developers in Brooklyn. That’s kind of the point.

creativity 240

creativity communities venture capital innovation 240

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

It can be risky to ask creators to rely on a possibly precarious, pre-seed company to power an important aspect of their business — if you fail, as most startups do, you might inadvertently end up hurting other independent entrepreneurs, which is (hopefully) the last thing a founder wants.

real estate 123

real estate creativity sustainability founder 123

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 10, 2011

On to of that, connected communities of entrepreneurs are better at incubating and supporting startups now than ever before. Experienced entrepreneurs and VCs share what they know on their blogs, and anyone can get thoughtful answers to tough questions on Quora. They each come with money and mentoring to help you get off the ground.

incubation 268

incubation peer-to-peer communities financing 268