Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

If you haven’t yet heard about Female Founder Office Hours it is an initiative you should be aware of whether you’re male, female or any other gender identify. For the LA event, for example, they will not only have a selection of great LA VCs but also 10+ senior VC women from the SF Bay Area will be coming down for it.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. They want you to attend demo days. I’ll go as long as it’s not on a demo day. One is that Y.C.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. This is where most founders err. Same with VC.

VC 332

VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 2, 2015

One time, I spoke at a meetup that was divided into my talk and demos--and the organizer assumed I wanted to go on before the demos. I didn''t understand why it would matter, but she told me that most of the investors like going before so they could skip out after the demos and not get bombared at the end of the event.

pitching 368

pitching peer-to-peer venture capital creativity 368

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. Smart founders use this extra resource to their advantage.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). Demo’d to death. We’ve all been demo-day’d to death. Yeah, he was LA, baby! Quality endures.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

So what attracted Howard Morgan, the VC with the hottest hand in NYC as of late ( Turntable.fm , Fab.com ), to bring the investment back to First Round? There is a lot of talk about needing to be a technical founder. Joe and Mary Bureaucrat who don't even use the internet because Smalltown, USA blocks it as the decisionmakers.

real estate 356

real estate leadership SaaS education 356

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. It’s a Demo Day thing.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

500

JUNE 9, 2020

Supply chains have been disrupted, businesses have had to close or operate at limited capacity for months, and even founders have had to expand their fundraising timeframes as we saw in our 2020 Female Founders Data Report. As a VC firm, we’ve had to adapt many aspects of our business as well.

frameworks 202

frameworks investing investment disruption 202

TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2022

He is now co-founder and chairman of 22 Ventures. Startup accelerators are increasingly putting the brakes on demo days. The often flashy events reserved for founders to connect with investors have long been part of the likes of Y Combinator’s program, seen as the “graduation” of startups’ journey.

mentorship 85

mentorship pitching startup accelerator board 85

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. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. For investors life is no different. Year in, year out.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

I avoid Demo Days like the plague and have publicly said so. By the time it’s hit demo day I’m too late. The founder wants to change the world and has a Phd in a science where I believe he just might. Fred Wilson said it best in his post about loss ratios in VC. VCs don’t need to be perfect.

VC 337

VC consulting strategy entrepreneurs 337

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

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. They demoed the electricity transfer with a physical device that looked like something that would never be allowed on an airplane. When I first met Meredith Perry she was 24. But it seemed to work.

VC 418

VC ventures leadership board 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

Your product demo crushed. I left the meeting and had to attend a 3-hour board meeting where two founders have been fighting and each want the other one fired. 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

APRIL 7, 2023

Y Combinator’s Demo Day took place this week , and although the event itself was virtual-only, 86% of the founders in YC’s winter 2023 batch lived in SF while participating. As a result, “the average Black founder raises less than around $1,000 from family and friends,” reports Dominic-Madori Davis.

pitching 98

pitching frameworks VC ventures 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

Along with detail orientation I have a strong bias for “doers.&# When I ask for a quick demo and the CEO tells me that he’ll schedule a follow-on meeting with his sales rep because, “I’m not a demo guy. years as a VC, “You don’t want to raise money from me. Then I’d fire the CEO.

entrepreneurs 286

entrepreneurs advice pitching VC 286

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2010

There was one other VC in the room, Charlie O'Donnell, who makes it a practice to be everywhere something is interesting happening. And I saw a bunch of demos of beta services spliced in between the talks.” You probably didn’t hear about Brooklyn Beta before Fred wrote about it : “This is my kind of conference.

creativity 240

creativity communities venture capital innovation 240

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

I’m supposed to believe that my best innovation can only come from scores of startup founders who just made millions and have now become CVOs at my company? If the money comes from professional investors it usually has a “liquidation preference” meaning that their money comes out before the founders or common stock. (If

strategy 357

strategy venture capital advice entrepreneurs 357

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

A few weeks ago, I found a Twitter thread by Sam DeBrule, co-founder and head of marketing of Heyday, who explained how he and his co-founder reduced customer churn by improving their onboarding process. Twitter Space: A Gen Z VC speaks up. A Gen Z VC speaks up: Why Gen Z VCs are trash. " [link].

VC 86

VC pitching founder startup 86

TechCrunch

MARCH 26, 2021

Zach Aarons, co-founder and general partner, MetaProp. Adam Demuyakor, co-founder and managing partner, Wilshire Lane Partners. Pre-seed round funding is under scrutiny: Is VC pandemic posturing here to stay? Pre-seed round funding is under scrutiny: Is VC pandemic posturing here to stay? Vik Chawla, partner, Fifth Wall.

VC 94

VC real estate venture capital pitching 94

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. And VC’s are tough customers. I’ve talked before about how to build long-term relationships with VCs.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The reality is that you need to standardize many things in a company if you’re to scale quickly, which is why many founders depart at the time of the transition. Demos – One of the things that most people are bad at and that are hard to standardize is the demo. A good demo tells a story.

advice 296

advice SaaS startup pitching 296

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We held a 90-minute demo session where 150 of LA’s VC’s and senior technology executives watched the LPLA V2 group present in small groups of 12-15 each. There were prominent founders of business like PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills and MyLife. Almost every VC I’ve spoken with in LA is tracking DataPop.

startup 276

startup VC media networking 276

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. 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.&#. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC. I swore never to do that as a VC. What do VC’s Experience?

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2018

Marc Espana and Emily Brockway, the Co-founders of Noken asked why booking travel couldn't be as simple as buying the luggage for your trip. The events of the last year affected this team personally--being LGBTQ and female founders, as well as having a Dreamer on the team.

culture 265

culture education VC opportunity 265

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

This was the first episode where Jason wasn’t on the show, which gave me the chance to have another VC on the show to discuss deals. Rustic Canyon is an LA-based, but geography-agnostic VC that is currently investing from a $200 million fund. VC Financings: 1. I keep meaning to get him drunk to spill the stories.

venture capital 270

venture capital capital ventures VC 270

TechCrunch

APRIL 29, 2023

Anna Dev tools plus generative AI Y Combinator Demo Days are a strong indicator of the trends investors might be interested in — and that’s one of the main reasons why TechCrunch always watches them pretty closely. AI-related startups, on the other hand, were very popular with founders, representing 34% of the winter cohort.

creativity 107

creativity VC accelerator innovation 107

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 27, 2020

For IndieBio, a science and biotech accelerator run by VC firm SOSV, this unprecedented year offered high stakes and new challenges. Today and tomorrow, the biotech accelerator is hosting its twice-annual demo day. In July, the founder and head of IndieBio, Arvind Gupta, left his position to pursue a role at Mayfield.

pitching 92

pitching accelerator startup sustainability 92

TechCrunch

MAY 26, 2022

TechCrunch has been covering the demo days of the seed-stage venture firm Pear VC since 2015. And the energy in the room reflects that of Pear’s founders, Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson, who year after year project the cheery demeanor of people eager to win you over. Pear lets the founders choose the check size.

pitching 72

pitching health SaaS accelerator 72

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Use the fact that you were on an anointed list to build credibility when you eventually approach journalists (and VC’s, customers, employees). Given a choice of your marketing person or talking to you (the founder) there’s no competition. I think Robert’s right.

advice 307

advice media startup SaaS 307

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Magic’s CEO and co-founder, Eric Steinberger, says that he was inspired by the potential of AI at a young age. But absent a demo, we have only his word to go on. Despite securing millions in VC backing, Kite struggled to pay the bills, running into headwinds that made finding a product-market fit impossible.

VC 98

VC development enablement education 98

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2023

Even as Y Combinator reveals the latest startups in its cohort for this winter , we have poor news for founders: the global venture capital market shrank in Q1 2023, and it would have been even worse if it were not for a few mega deals, according to Crunchbase (disclosure: my former employer) and PitchBook reports.

VC 100

VC venture capital collaboration ventures 100

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 31, 2013

Do you think when the founder of Spanx wants to raise money for her next consumer product, investors are going to ask her for a PDF? The average partner at a VC firm probably meets with at least two or three companies a day. You''ve been to demo days and pitch meetups and read Techcrunch and Mashable about product launches.

pitching 303

pitching venture capital energy technology 303

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Repeat founders who have a proven track record, good references, and in the best cases, an exit to point to will have an easy time making inroads with venture capitalists. Earlier this week, for example, the former founders of Udemy and altMBA raised more than $4 million for a startup with no name or final product.

founder 83

founder VC ventures investing 83

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Most early-stage entrepreneurs who have worked with me (either as an angel or as a seed VC) know that I don’t rely at all on the social proof of other investors. Importantly any VC investor will understand the “first close&# mentality since nearly all VC funds are raised this way from our investors.

financing 286

financing finance advice VC 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

It is with this backdrop that I was really happy to learn from my friend Ethan Anderson (HBS alum & founder of RedBeacon) about an awesome program at HBS run by Tom Eisenmann called Launching Technology Ventures. I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston.

startup 319

startup consulting pitching support 319