Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

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VC venture capital networking innovation 255

500

JUNE 9, 2020

As a VC firm, we’ve had to adapt many aspects of our business as well. From taking all aspects of our accelerators digital (including our Demo Day) to rethinking the opportunities of the future, we’ve taken this moment to analyze what innovations can come from this time and new opportunities that arise from our changing environment.

frameworks 202

frameworks investment investing disruption 202

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? I went back across the 21 investments I''ve made both at First Round and at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures --a period that dates back to January 28, 2010, when I closed on Backupify. That''s an interesting question. Venture Capital & Technology'

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VC pitching networking venture capital 415

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Most of them are telling you that they just need to see a bit of traction before they’d be prepared to invest. Unfortunately your advisers are wrong.

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VC pitching advice venture capital 309

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. Lines, Not Dots.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

This is part of my blog series “ Pitching a VC.&#. I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. The following are some tips for the debate style VC meeting. Tips in a debate led VC Meeting.

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VC peer-to-peer pitching advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.” Same with VC.

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VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

If you demo your product (which is always great) then tell us part of the story while you’re demo’ing. I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. Where you planning to demo? NEVER lead with features.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 3, 2012

meet with tons of companies every week, work hard for their portfolio companies, and are on planes flying around to the important confereneces and demo days". Of course, you don't always need that experience from a VC. An experienced entrepreneur who has raised money multiple times can be a great board member as well.

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VC board venture capital ventures 259

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

The only people who should be disappointed where the regular folks invested in these T. They did quite well on their angel investment in Square. What's worse is that this end of the market is even affecting early stage VC mindset. If you're a VC and you think for a second that whether or not Square pricing at $2.9

angel investing 403

angel investing venture capital VC media 403

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

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. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

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. They take fewer bets, they don’t mind being counter-conventional and investing in things that make others scratch their heads.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

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 327

pitching peer-to-peer venture capital creativity 327

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Business Insider wrote about our investment in the company yesterday. 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? I'm excited that PublicStuff is one of our now 45 NYC area investments. Ugh, right?

real estate 316

real estate leadership SaaS education 316

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

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?&#. And because as a VC or as a CEO or senior exec you get presented to all the time we’re extra sensitive to it. 25% of VCs are expressives, like you. Can I make a small suggestion?

VC 358

VC entrepreneurs creativity leadership 358

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

TechCrunch

JUNE 2, 2021

David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. 5 innovative fundraising methods for emerging VCs and PEs. How to attract large investors to your direct investing platform. Paulina Symala is a consultant at Oliver Wyman and a past intern of Versatile VC. Preqin (free demo).

consulting 128

consulting VC board venture capital 128

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 obviously don’t speak for all investors.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

David Teten VC

MARCH 31, 2025

Orange Collective exclusively invests in Y Combinator companies before Demo Day. The Orange Collective team have collectively angel invested in 200+ Y Combinator companies, including unicorn outcomes like Ironclad, Vanta, Replit, Moonvalley, and Snapdocs. We have over 150 Y Combinator alumni as actively engaged LPs.

investing 52

investing investment angel investing collaboration 52

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2010

However, the innovation community seems to be in love with this format, so you can’t be a VC without watching a bunch of them. If it ceased to suck one day, I'm not sure there would be anything left to invest in. Don't then lead with team because you saw it in that order on some VC blog. That's why I have a job.

pitching 290

pitching VC technology communities 290

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

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

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

Understand what investors are looking for , what they usually invest in, and why. There is a vast gulf between a ‘cool product’ and an ‘investable company’ and if you don’t understand the difference, you will be doomed before you start. Now, and only now, are you prepared to start fundraising.

investing 164

investing investment pitching mix-use 164

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. Please note that these are for entertainment purposes only, as “we’re not offering investing advice or recommending anyone join or back a startup.”

pitching 98

pitching frameworks VC ventures 98

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 17, 2013

Today, at Demo, SocialSignIn launched to "solve the problem of businesses knowing more about their online visitors than those standing in their physical location." Apple bought WifiSlam to help triangulate your location and Floored (one of my investments) is scanning indoor spaces with cutting edge 3D tech. And they''re not alone.

venture capital 291

venture capital enablement creativity networking 291

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

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

It’s demo day season. This morning marked the kickoff of VC firm 500 Global’s Fall 2022 Demo Day, which saw over a dozen startups give their best pitches to prospective investors — and customers. Elsewhere on Demo Day, Lydia.ai walked through its health assessment service for insurance carriers.

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accelerator health advice hospitality 88

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. I hope that when you’re presenting to a VC this will give you some sense of what might be going on in our minds. Both presenters are anonymized.

pitching 288

pitching VC advice strategy 288

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

RFP Generators – Another obvious investment area. 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.

advice 296

advice SaaS startup pitching 296

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Twitter Space: A Gen Z VC speaks up. According to Andrew Chan, a senior associate at Builders VC, GenZ investors “are still a bunch of kids, myself included.” EDT , Chan will join me to share his views about why “ Gen Z isn’t a real investment trend. A Gen Z VC speaks up: Why Gen Z VCs are trash.

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VC pitching founder startup 86

TechCrunch

APRIL 1, 2022

For decades, there were several blocks where angels and VC partners camped out at café tables, taking pitches between lattes. DeWitt, who became a VC after selling Drop, Inc. ” There’s an inherent power imbalance when asking a stranger for money, but “VCs should work to earn your trust,” writes DeWitt.

pitching 91

pitching energy VC founder 91

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

Back to demos. We are pleased to have a member of our group and former product manager turned VC, Charlie O'Donnell speak to us about the challenges of job-hunting in the current market. Tuesday, March 2nd. 5PM NY Tech Meetup Student Mingle #2. RSVP: [link]. 7PM NY Tech Meetup: FinTech and more! RSVP: [link]. Wednesday, March 3rd.

communities 218

communities innovation venture capital consulting 218

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know their future VCs early because getting a feel for your chemistry is far more important than how the VC is ranked in some survey. Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to thoroughly reference check their VCs – you’ll learn much more from this than anything else.

entrepreneurs 330

entrepreneurs incumbents VC disruption 330

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Most investors wait to see who else is investing. &# Social Proof&# weighs heavily on investors in making their decisions. 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. Here’s where I feel common ground : 1.

financing 286

financing finance advice VC 286

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

The Fantasy Cash Flow Model When I was an analyst at the General Motors pension fund, investing in VC funds, I had to build a model of how I thought they would perform. It started out with initial investment size, pricing, and outcome behavior for each deal and then it made a prediction around the distribution of outcomes.

ventures 248

ventures angel investing board advice 248

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 8, 2014

someone who can win over the VCs, the CTOs, create content, etc. All he had to do was hangout at hackathons and do demos where he wrote code live. I think big companies (and sometimes VC firms) invest too much in personalities when a big personality or someone with a big network should be used more like a tool than a centerpiece.

venture capital 252

venture capital communities pitching networking 252

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 27, 2020

However, the pandemic has shown an increased need for investment and focus on solutions that work on human and planetary health. For IndieBio, a science and biotech accelerator run by VC firm SOSV, this unprecedented year offered high stakes and new challenges. Bronson was immediately put to the test.

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pitching accelerator startup sustainability 92