Sat.Aug 29, 2020 - Fri.Sep 04, 2020

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It Depends: Why the right fundraising strategy for your startup is never a straight answer.

This is going to be BIG.

Talk to ten founders and ten different VCs and you’ll get roughly about 600 different suggestions as to how you should go about your fundraising strategy. I don’t know what the formula is here, but the numbers and the resulting amount of confusion gets big very very quickly. Why does it seem like there’s an exception to every rule? You’re told that you can’t raise until you have a product, yet pre-product companies get funded all the time.

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What is an Ecosystem Builder

Ecosystem Builder Hub

Dozens of ecosystem builders share their perspective on what an entrepreneurial ecosystem builder is, and does. One of the challenges in turning ecosystem building into a recognized profession is the lack of a recognized definition for what it is and what an ecosystem builder is. The Kauffman Foundation’s ESHIP Goal 3 recognizes this as an ongoing challenge, stating, “Strong collaboration will require alignment on our desired outcomes for ecosystem building and a common terminology f

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Three steps to a successful pivot

Entrepreneurs' Organization

In today’s business vocabulary, the word pivot—as a verb or a noun—has become shorthand for any change or shift. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced many of us to initiate wholesale and all-encompassing pivots in order to stay afloat. . We talked with entrepreneurs and members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) who recently overhauled their businesses in order to survive—and perhaps even thrive—in a post-pandemic landscape.

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Mental Healthcare 3.0

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

My colleague Hanel wrote an important post on USV.com yesterday. It looks at mental healthcare solutions and compares them to what has happened in online learning in the last decade. USV invests in both wellness and learning and we believe that the way learning has evolved can teach us about where healthcare can go. Hanel’s post is in keeping with those beliefs.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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Seraf Toolbox: What You Need and Where You Will Find Key Data to Track Your Early Stage Investments

The Seraf Compass

As active early stage investors and directors of Launchpad Venture Group, we are asked frequently about how we track our portfolio of investments and how we stay on top of the financial performance of each company. When we say that we track them in detail, the next question is what data do we track for each investment we make? And, we are asked about how we track the overall performance of our total portfolio.

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Gregslist – The Strange Attractor

Ecosystem Builder Hub

Igniting Startup Ecosystems. Hold a match to a sugar cube and it will never burn. But first add a little cigarette ash and the sugar cube will burst in flames. There’s nothing like the presence of a catalyst to ignite a system. What ignites a startup ecosystem? Thriving startup ecosystems are good for the economy, good for society, and good for pretty much everyone.

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Some Thoughts On SPACs

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

As many of you know, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are all the rage on wall street right now. SPACs are publicly traded “shell companies” that raise capital in an IPO process and then use that capital to merge with a privately held business. SPACs have been around for at least thirty years and I have always thought of them as a “liquidity path of last resort” for our portfolio companies.

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Starting a Niche Business and Finding Your Audience

Smart Hustle Magazine

Samantha Dong is the Founder and CEO of Ally Shoes , an innovative, fashion brand designed for women by women. Ally is a niche business renowned for designing pain-free heels for power women. Samantha is passionate about empowering women through fashion and making luxury footwear more accessible for women on the move. After a foot injury, Samantha couldn’t find shoes that fit.

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YC’s First Virtual IIT Tour

Y Combinator

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our first series of virtual talks at 6 IITs this fall. At the events, you’ll meet YC partners and alumni from each of the schools. They’ll talk about how they started their companies, the challenges they faced early on, and they’ll share advice for students who want to start and scale a company one day.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Tips for developing strong brands

NZ Entrepreneur

Protecting intellectual property rights through registration is an important element of any business strategy. New Zealanders have traditionally favoured a non-regulated approach—#8 wire, Kiwi ingenuity and innovative thinking drive our cultural identity. But the value of a robust intellectual property portfolio hasn’t always been on the radar for New Zealand businesses.

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Funding Friday: Insider Art

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

The comic book community on Kickstarter is so great. This projec t that I backed today is a great example of the creativity that they express in every project they do. USV TEAM POSTS: Hanel Baveja — Sep 1, 2020 Mental Healthcare 3.0.

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Salesforce Grant Winner Offers 3 Tips for Developing Small Business Resilience

Smart Hustle Magazine

Are you tired of stories about small businesses struggling during COVID-19? Do you want something a little more inspiring and helpful for growing your small business? Perfect. Keep reading. I recently spoke with Sarah and Robbie Gonzales, co-owners of Tungsten Prep. They are recent recipients of a $10,000 grant from Salesforce. Their story offers encouragement, motivation and some practical ideas on what you can do to boost your own small business resilience.

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IEDC Small Business Development Training Course: Join us on September 17-18!

EntreWorks Consulting

It’s back to school time again. If you’re pursuing professional development or just want to learn about new trends in economic development, join us on September 17-18, 2020 for another on-line version of the International Economic Development Council’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Strategies course. This intro session will give you the basics on what makes entrepreneurs tick and how we economic developers can help them succeed—much needed info as America’s small business own

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Your Fractional Finance and Accounting Team

Mighty Financial specializes in supporting the financial aspirations of small businesses and entrepreneurs. With our comprehensive bookkeeping and precise accounting expertise with decades of experience across diverse financial roles, our team offers tailor-made services ranging from essential bookkeeping to strategic fractional CFO support, catered specifically to the unique challenges of technology companies, startups, and SMEs.

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GCUC APAC – Week 3: Wellness

GCUC

This week’s session was all about wellness. If you missed it, the replay will be available on GCUC membership later this week. We have. The post GCUC APAC – Week 3: Wellness appeared first on GCUC Community.

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i2E Management Co. Inc. leads $5.2 million investment in PhotoniCare Inc.

Innovation 2 Enterprise

Champaign, Ill. – September 3, 2020 – PhotoniCare, Inc., a company dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare by providing physicians with better diagnostic tools, today announced an oversubscribed $5.2 million Series A financing led by i2E Management Company Inc., with co-investment from OSF Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, and Dreampact Ventures. The company also announced a $2.1 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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[Varo Money in Business Insider] Varo, First Consumer Fintech Granted National Bank Charter in the US, goes live with Temenos Cloud Technology

OurCrowd

“Varo was founded with a clear vision to deploy a more efficient business model and cutting-edge technology in order to create a new kind of bank – one that is wholly designed around the financial health and wellbeing of the everyday American consumer. From the start, we knew this vision needed to be supported by having a national bank charter and an innovative technology partner like Temenos.

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Profitable Business Ideas for Men Over 40

Common Reasons Why Startups Fail

The 40s are the period of life where they feel a strong urge for opening up their own business. The post Profitable Business Ideas for Men Over 40 appeared first on.

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Digitalization: 5 Tech Updates That Will Help You Survive The Recession & Thrive

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.

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What use is an investment banker?

Berkonomics

Many CEOs have asked me if I felt an investment banker adds value if the buyer has already been identified. How investment bankers behave. Investment bankers sometimes slow the process by requiring a cloud-based “data room” and “deal book” to be prepared containing considerable information about a company to help a buyer. Deal books are expensive to create.

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How EO taught me I’m a no-good dirty liar (even though I wrote the book on honesty)

Entrepreneurs' Organization

When I turned 30—four long years ago—two things happened: First, I was told I should join the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), to which I promptly answered, what the heck is EO? (Don’t worry, I did join— thankfully so.). Second, I decided I hadn’t achieved enough in my life. But, in fact, that’s an understatement. The truth is, I beat myself up about not having achieved enough in my life, and right then and there I created new goals for myself.

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Kevin Learned: Entrepreneur, Teacher, Angel

Angel Capital Association

Editor’s Note – This story originally appeared in the Idaho Business Review by Sharon Fisher and reposted with permission by the Angel Capital Association. Kevin Learned is on his third career, and he’s not done yet. To many Idaho companies, Kevin Learned isn’t just an icon, he’s ang angel. That’s “angel” as in angel investing, where people invest money early in a new company’s career to help it get off the ground.

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What Is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Really?

Source Link

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Enhance Customer Value: Unleash Your Data’s Potential

The complexity of financial data, the need for real-time insight, and the demand for user-friendly visualizations can seem daunting when it comes to analytics - but there is an easier way. With Logi Symphony, we aim to turn these challenges into opportunities. Our platform empowers you to seamlessly integrate advanced data analytics, generative AI, data visualization, and pixel-perfect reporting into your applications, transforming raw data into actionable insights.

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Put Entrepreneurs Front and Center. Fireside Chat 1

Ecosystem Builder Hub

Social Venturers is launching a series of Fireside Chats to discuss what makes ecosystem builders effective. Every two weeks from September 10th until December 3rd, they are hosting peer-to-peer knowledge sharing sessions and you are invited! #1 Put entrepreneurs front and center (September 10, 2020, 2. p.m. EST). As ecosystem builders, we are committed to serving the entrepreneurs in our communities.

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Post-pandemic, weighing the climate ‘risk’ from energy use

Innovation 2 Enterprise

By Scott Meacham. I don’t get to write that often about the energy industry; i2E’s charter is to expand Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ventures in non-traditional sectors to diversify our state’s economy. But this week, benefitting from the sage perspective of C. Michael Ming, the original general manager of General Electric’s Global Research O&G Technology Center in Oklahoma City, I am doubling down on a second discussion of “after the pandemic, then what” for the oil and gas industry.

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Some Email Stats

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

I was looking at my Feedblitz dashboard this morning. Feedblitz powers the daily email for this blog. These are all of the emails/blog posts I have done this month: As you can see the open rate hovers between a low of 33% (Ghost Pacer) and a high of 45% (Subscription Agreements). The unsubscribe rate ranges from 0.02% to 0.075% (on my birthday!). I suspect the click data is not instrumented properly because I can’t imagine that nobody clicks on any links in the posts.

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How To Pitch Traction To Venture Investors Like A Boss!

Dream It

Traction is one of the most important elements to nail when pitching investors. The problem is, most startups do a poor job talking about it. In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Partner Steve Barsh highlights pro tips and traction insights across all early stages of the startup lifecycle. From pre-revenue early traction to post-revenue momentum, this Dose will teach you the ins and outs of presenting traction to investors.

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PE Mastery: CAPTARGET's Playbook for Quality Lead Flow

CAPTARGET presents a masterclass in M&A deal sourcing. Learn to cast a wide net, embracing seller self-identification. Consistency is the linchpin: keep the origination process steady for a reliable flow of opportunities. Diversify your tactics, employing various tools and vendors. Tech matters! Understand DNS settings, domain authority, and brand presence for optimal outreach.