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? Go do a startup. Get yourself in a big demo day competition. If I don’t commit to millions of dollars of acquisitions I will … die? Woo the press.

strategy 357

strategy venture capital advice entrepreneurs 357

TechCrunch

MARCH 26, 2021

Our favorite companies from Y Combinator’s W21 Demo Day. But TechCrunch reporters spend a lot of time talking with startups, hearing pitches and telling their stories; if you’re curious about which companies stood out from Y Combinator’s W21 Demo Day, read on. A look at 4 IPO updates and 2 late-stage funding rounds.

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VC real estate venture capital pitching 94

NZ Entrepreneur

MARCH 16, 2025

Watch/listen to the Interview: In this interview Richard Liew talks with James Burnes , Chief Executive at Ministry of Awesome , a Christchurch New Zealand based startup hub helping high growth startups throughout New Zealand to start, grow and scale up. I’m keen for you to let us know a bit more about what that looks like.

startup ecosystem 52

startup ecosystem mix-use advice incubation 52

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 18, 2016

That's the kind of pace a startup needs to be on--except that most startups treat their PR as if all you need to do is to launch your message at a debate and cross your fingers after that. Here are five things startup founders can take away from the way campaigns work: 1) Campaigns have a message. 5) Campaigns run events.

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startup opportunity support startup founder 198

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

He has opinions on bigger batch sizes , a growing standard deal , competition, the power of venture capital and why startup founders should be prioritizing more than just a check after Demo Day. Michael Seibel is synonymous with Y Combinator’s growth over the past decade.

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accelerator venture capital startup founder ventures 90

Y Combinator

DECEMBER 9, 2020

The founders are likewise transformed by the many years of struggle and personal growth necessary to build and successfully lead a large business. Gone is the uncertain new startup founder, replaced by someone almost impossibly formidable and experienced. That was followed by Demo Day in late August.

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pitching founder advice support 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Paul Graham’s assertion that “any startup founder can tell you the most common question they hear from investors is not about the founders or the product, but “who else is investing?&# When I’m in, I’m in. rings true to me. Investors who commit early deserve to have a lower price.

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financing finance advice VC 286

TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

Announced today, AWS has created a 10-week program for generative AI startups around the globe. Generative AI startup founders within the cohort can expect to have access to AI models and tools as well as machine learning stack optimization and custom go-to-market advice.

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startup accelerator creativity advice 88

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

“There are a lot of [programs] that target younger women to get them into coding in high school, and there’s a lot of syndicates and founder groups for women late into their careers,” Titus said. Startup founders set up hacker homes to recreate Silicon Valley synergy. So, they started their own program. A team photo.

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mentorship incubation communities networking 124

TechCrunch

MAY 10, 2021

GV partner Terri Burns is joining us to judge the Startup Battlefield. Each startup team gets six minutes to pitch and present their demo — and then they’ll answer probing questions from the judges. Want a few more details about how Startup Battlefield works? You’ll find them here.

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disruption startup pitching VC 77

TechCrunch

MARCH 23, 2021

Early-stage startup founders and investors need to keep their fingers on the sector’s very rapid pulse and the best place to do that is, you guessed it, TC Sessions: Mobility 2021 on June 9. Here’s what your package includes ( Note: They’re available only to pre-Series A, early-stage startups).

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startup networking opportunity education 88

TechCrunch

MAY 14, 2021

When you’re head-down and nose to the grindstone — I’m looking at all you hard-working early-stage startup founders — it’s easy to miss a deadline for an outstanding opportunity. Case in point: competing in Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 in September.

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disruption startup pitching VC 77

Y Combinator

MARCH 15, 2024

When I joined YC in 2014, I thought I was transitioning from the management role I had as a startup founder to a job where most of my time would be spent doing office hours with YC founders.

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leadership advice VC accelerator 108

Tomasz Tunguz

MARCH 26, 2014

Earlier this week, I attended the Spring YCombinator Demo Day. Each time, I’m impressed by the intelligence, ambition and the polish of the founders presenting companies only a few weeks or months old. At each Demo Day, the YC team provides investors a list of all the companies pitching and I’ve kept a few.

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SaaS social gaming education pitching 40

TechCrunch

JULY 29, 2022

” It’s a bold declaration for a startup founder aiming to work with robots — or more accurately, the software that helps turn a tractor, tiller or forklift into an automated vehicle. And it’s built with fleets and commercial deployments — not demos — in mind. “Robots suck.”

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SaaS ventures founder technology 102

TechCrunch

APRIL 13, 2021

They’ll have plenty of insight and advice to share, including the challenges that startup founders will face as they break into the transportation arena. Schedule virtual product demos, pitch investors or recruit new talent. You’ll hear from CEOs like Starship Technologies’ Ahti Heinla.

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micromobility transportation construction networking 68

TechCrunch

MARCH 23, 2021

Our 11 favorite companies from Y Combinator’s S20 Demo Day: Part 1. Our 12 favorite startups from Y Combinator’s S20 Demo Day: Part 2. Several startups in India are helping users get cabs, three-wheelers autos, and two-wheelers bikes. ZOKO is helping businesses do sales, marketing, and customer support on WhatsApp.

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startup hospitality education founder 110

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Other signs of engagement are: they ask you to meet with portfolio companies (they want feedback on your product and you), they ask you to meet a colleague, they set up a call to go through a product demo / financial walk-through, they ask to speak with customers, etc.

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VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

TechCrunch

MAY 3, 2022

Whenever I talk about minimal viable products with product-driven startup founders, I often find myself in a frustrating conversation. In the world of lean startups, founders have to stay hyper-focused on figuring out how to fail as fast as possible. Could a video demo get you the answers you need?

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incumbents development startup founder innovation 100

TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2021

In a recent Twitter thread , he highlighted common stories and narratives that startups can use, such as “challenging the way things have always been done” or “irreverence,” and came up with examples of companies that employ these tactics. In my sales demo, I talk about the narrative before going into the demo.

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pitching innovation strategy disruption 99

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 6, 2021

They’re skeptical of the benefits and understandably suspect startup founders offering quick solutions (via video calls and virtual demos, no less) of being charlatans. “Originally I said, guys, we have to tell everyone we’ve increased sunflowers or cashews by a hundred percent!

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data collection health culture innovation 99

TechCrunch

JULY 26, 2021

Non-traditional startup founder to an angel investor. Six years later, the pair decided to venture into tech, a relatively nascent industry in Nigeria at the time and began investing in startups via LeadPath , an early-stage firm they launched in Lagos, Nigeria. Some of its biggest clients include OEMs like Oracle.

startup 109

startup angel investing real estate capital 109

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

As founder of the famed Silicon Valley venture capital firm known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson, or DFJ, Draper in 2018 introduced the Startup House concept. Today, there are more than 15 locations globally that are either hostels and/or co-working spaces aimed at traveling startup founders, digital nomads and other remote workers.

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accelerator startup coworking spaces coworking 74

AsiaTechDaily

MAY 25, 2022

Additionally, the top 30 startups selected will be eligible to receive an additional US$11,136 per team to settle down in Korea based on their “Demo Day” and settlement evaluation results. The Demo Day will be part of the largest startup event in South Korea – “COMEUP 2022.”

startup 52

startup accelerator networking support 52

AsiaTechDaily

OCTOBER 20, 2023

In Singapore, a global expansion base, Kim organized a Demo Day event for the companies in his portfolio looking to expand internationally. Guiding new startup founders: From his vast experience, Kim highlights a common mistake among early-stage founders – the misconception that receiving investment funding guarantees success.

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ventures investment investing sustainability 105

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2023

I’ve been among the group of TechCrunchers watching pitch after pitch at Y Combinator’s Demo Day. As a result, “the average Black founder raises less than around $1,000 from family and friends,” reports Dominic-Madori Davis. Haje is getting a head start on the weekend, so it’s going to be me and you for the next two days.

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pitching venture capital VC media 96

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

After working in political campaigns, I realized that many of the skillsets overlapped with what startups need: moving fast, being lean, communicating well, being adaptable and staying flexible. How do you collaborate with startups? Our services cater to every stage of the founder journey.

startup 102

startup SaaS advice strategy 102

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Mark your calendar for TechCrunch’s annual celebration of the startup community — TC Disrupt 2021 returns this September 21-23! At Disrupt , you’ll rub virtual elbows with the thousands of startup founders, investors and innovators building cutting-edge products and companies.

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disruption pitching networking opportunity 78

Don Dodge

APRIL 6, 2015

Drew Houston was born in Acton, and met his co-founder Arash Ferdowsi at MIT. I remember the Demo Day in 2007 where DropBox presented to about 30 Boston area Angels and Venture Capital investors. The problem they were solving was not one I had experienced, and the product demo didn’t work very well at the time.

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incubation angel investing pitching venture capital 40

AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

The firm’s end-to-end services including program structuring, startup sourcing, startup interviews and selection, mentor recruitment, organising masterclasses, business matching, coaching, day-to-day operations, startup fundraising support, and organising demo days.

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ventures startup consulting accelerator 59

Y Combinator

JUNE 25, 2021

People often believe that YC’s raison d’etre is Demo Day and fundraising — and that founders’ singular goal in applying to YC and completing our program is to increase their probability of executing a successful fundraise. And YC is CRISPR for startups. Startup founders with epic potential join YC.

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startup startup ecosystem leadership communities 73

Entrepreneur's Handbook

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

After demo day, we got a call from a European gym equipment manufacturer. (An And while anecdotal evidence tells us massive companies are built by young founders like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, data tells us otherwise. Founders of billion-dollar startups have previously founded a successful startup.

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founder pitching venture capital VC 96

Y Combinator

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

I’ve personally experienced 16 of the last 18 batches as a YC startup founder and then YC partner, and I’m very confident S20 was a transformative experience for our companies. We’ve improved YC founder onboarding, alumni directories, our internal wiki, our catalogue of startup advice, and the Demo Day website.

advice 140

advice opportunity startup founder founder 140

Entrepreneur's Handbook

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Those are three powerful things that not all startup founders are thinking about, but they really should be. If you’re ready to create, customize, and launch a mobile app from your browser, with the source code included, request a demo of Draftbit or sign up to start building for free. Your first 1,000 users are waiting.

communities 64

communities advice development pitching 64

500

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Felix Rodriguez is the founder and CEO of Back Office, a human-assisted AI platform and bookkeeping service for companies and consultants. In an interview with Nathan Beckord on Foundersuite’s “How I Raised It” podcast he shared how 500 Startups was instrumental in the early growth of BackOffice. I believe founders have superpowers.

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accelerator consulting founder startup 150

David Teten VC

DECEMBER 2, 2019

“Geared toward social impact startups working to create a healthier and more sustainable future, the accelerator provides access to training, products and technical support. Startup founders will work with Google engineers and receive mentoring from over 20 teams at Google, as well as outside experts and local mentors.

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startup incubation accelerator innovation 70

Y Combinator

APRIL 24, 2024

I went back to Google for a bit and I had that realization that I wanted to be working with startup founders again. I had a bunch of conversations and I came to realize that the part of the job I love the most is being shoulder-to-shoulder with founders when they’re trying to make something new in the world.

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founder startup advice VC 106