Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

Yesterday I had lunch with a really interesting and capable serial entrepreneur who is raising his A round. When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor. The topic of &# strategic&# investors came up.

advice 279

advice venture capital frameworks entrepreneurs 279

StartupNation

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

In the startup world, it’s pitch decks, not business plans that get companies funded. Making a pitch deck is an art, a science, but most importantly, a story. Angel investors and venture capitalists have also learned to expect a standard pitch deck as the first filter when evaluating a company to invest in. Demo Day pitch.

pitching 110

pitching SaaS mix-use media 110

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. Unfortunately that’s how reference checking works.

real estate 319

real estate VC pitching entrepreneurs 319

TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

But dealmaking is idiosyncratic: a few investors might be content to make a deal over coffee, but early-stage teams still need a sturdy pitch deck or memo they can leave behind. I’m going to save you some time: many (if not most) of you are not yet ready to pitch an investor. Are pitch decks still necessary?

pitching 98

pitching incubation board opportunity 98

Onevest

MAY 19, 2015

Refer Deals to Others Just because you aren’t interested in a particular deal doesn’t mean it won’t be a hit with someone else. Respond Respond when others refer you deals. You might not love every one of them, but they won’t keep referring if all they get is crickets. So how can investors improve their deal flow?

coworking spaces 116

coworking spaces coworking startup pitching 116

Startup Catalyst

MARCH 27, 2018

All the participants are running some type of program or space to support startup entrepreneurs or build the startup community in their region, from running accelerators and co-working spaces, to startup meetup groups, student entrepreneurship groups, and maker spaces, as well as University faculty and Government policy makers.

communities 140

communities startup incubation accelerator 140

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Who was willing to jump on a plan on a Sunday morning with a hang-over to make sure they were there the night before an important biz dev pitch on a Monday morning. When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Who in stead said, “That’s what Skype is for?” ” Wowza.

board 320

board VC construction opportunity 320

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. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. I was interested in learning more.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs. But most good entrepreneurs do this naturally.

startup 319

startup advice entrepreneurs networking 319

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

This led median valuations to triple in 3 years and led to this stupid phenomenon that people refer to as “unicorns ,” which I am convinced will the the thing most historians laugh most about in this era. The fact that I still see it referred to in pitch decks is farcical. Late-Stage VCs Pay Up. VC Infighting. Choose wisely.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

Innovation 2 Enterprise

MARCH 26, 2024

I’ve unapologetically hyper-focused this shopping solution for women, as informed and directed by my personal experience and the experiences of my users as women, moms, and what I refer to as “household procurement specialists.” Practice in pitching and answering tough questions has prepared us to begin raising funding.

entrepreneurs 106

entrepreneurs innovation advice construction 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

And I always encourage entrepreneurs to do reference checking. I usually counsel entrepreneurs with the following advice, “if your VC can’t play nicely on the way in when they love you the most and are on their best behavior, imagine how they’re going to be in difficult times or when the final pie is getting split!

VC 314

VC advice pitching investing 314

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Because many great entrepreneurs work with lawyers in registering their companies they have their ear to the pavement on the earliest of company formations.

startup 318

startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 29, 2011

I had an interesting conversation with an entrepreneur last week about how he decided which VCs he was going to pitch. At the same time, I had lunch with someone yesterday who regularly ran into early stage entrepreneurs who was surprised to hear that I didn't mind if they made intros to me. In person time is precious.

VC 291

VC pitching entrepreneurs networking 291

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So even if my own mother asked me to meet with you, and you were pitching me a biotech opportunity for a $10 million investment at a $90 million valuation, I might take the meeting, but it wouldn’t be particularly useful for either of us. In this case, it’s not a lack of interest, just a lack of time and efficiency.

pitching 153

pitching angel investing investing investment 153

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. I am really surprised how many entrepreneurs pitch me and then I never hear from them again. ENTREPRENEUR NEXT STEPS.

VC 277

VC pitching advice strategy 277

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2010

But I use this all of the time as a metaphor when talking with entrepreneurs in person and I’ve found it to be a useful way of explaining to entrepreneurs what is going in in the VC’s life. I have no idea why, but that’s always how it always felt to me when I was an entrepreneur raising money.

VC 275

VC venture capital pitching board 275

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. Or “I’m a new entrepreneur, why would I offer advice on how to run a startup?&#. People often ask me why I started blogging.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Influencers are inundated with requests for their time and have to develop filters of whom they trust and therefore who can refer them deals. He talks about the fact that as an entrepreneur himself attracts other entrepreneurs to want to work with him. The power of “influencer networks” to drive product adoption. .

venture capital 228

venture capital communities VC entrepreneurs 228

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. You can try to convince them of your “pay no more once you’ve signed up&# model but they fall for the other guy’s pitch every time.

consulting 333

consulting advice collaboration VC 333

Gust

MAY 25, 2014

After my sales pitch, he was so excited I knew he could do the job.” Based on the glowing terms I heard from my friend, I’ll just skip the reference check.” In this litigious society, reference checks are more productive if you also listen to what is not said. Invested Interests entrepreneur hiring startup'

entrepreneurs 170

entrepreneurs advice pitching investing 170

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. You can try to convince them of your “pay no more once you’ve signed up&# model but they fall for the other guy’s pitch every time.

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 25, 2022

I get a lot of pitch deck submissions for this TechCrunch Pitch Deck Teardown series from people who are raising friend and family rounds, and I mostly pass on them. It was against that backdrop that I received the pitch deck for the Palau Project. Its founder, Jerome Cloetens, is a professional kite surfer (!) Problem slide.

pitching 88

pitching sustainability founder investing 88

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. Usually when an investor is asking you your burn rate he or she is referring to net burn — what cash are you consuming.

startup 212

startup venture capital capital VC 212

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. Remember that you will have total control over who can see this material.

VC 159

VC angel investing pitching entrepreneurs 159

The Seraf Compass

MARCH 24, 2021

If you are helping an entrepreneur raise money, there is no way you are going to avoid one or more “deep dive” meetings. Coming out of the pitch, most investors will ask to hold a longer more in-depth meeting to unpack the company’s story in greater detail.

entrepreneurs 339

entrepreneurs pitching founder 339

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. Understanding the fund vintage – “Vintage&# of a fund refers to when the fund was raised. Tags: Pitching VCs Raising Venture Capital VC Industry.

VC 269

VC venture capital investing investment 269

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

I can be frustrating for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to get a VCs interest until someone else is interested as well, but there’s actually a logic behind it, believe it or not. I even started referring to him as a podhead. Building a successful company is super hard. The trick is figuring out the timing.

VC 186

VC venture capital media board 186

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

As an entrepreneur, you have limited time to project that maturity to prospective funds. I have also heard it referred to as a “narrative deck” — basically a detailed, written version of your pitch. There is a marked difference in what a Series B company is expected to look like versus a Series A company.

founder 97

founder strategy pitching venture capital 97

Entrepreneur's Handbook

MAY 2, 2023

Once you fill this out… Step 4: Meet to discuss answers and conduct reference checks Set up an hour or two to sit down and review each other’s answers in person or via a conference call. At the end of the meeting, ask for one or two work-related references (i.e., For instance, I would ask references questions like: 1.

founder 110

founder mix-use communities networking 110

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

.” Eventually, the company closed a $30 million Series A round led by Index Ventures partner Nina Achadjian, as the duo discussed on the latest episode of TechCrunch Live , our weekly program featuring entrepreneurs, developers and investors. References. We do a lot of customer calls and check references on the entrepreneurs.

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pitching entrepreneurs support ventures 87

StartupNation

DECEMBER 21, 2021

It is imperative for budding entrepreneurs to take the time to learn about the types of investors available and how to use best practices when approaching them for funds. They are found across all industries and are useful for entrepreneurs who are beyond the seed stages of financing but are not yet ready to seek out venture capital.

peer-to-peer 105

peer-to-peer startup pitching entrepreneurs 105

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

I can be frustrating for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to get a VCs interest until someone else is interested as well, but there’s actually a logic behind it, believe it or not. I even started referring to him as a podhead. Building a successful company is super hard. The trick is figuring out the timing.

VC 150

VC venture capital media board 150

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Day One Ventures , a venture firm launched in 2018 with a pitch to combine venture capital acumen with marketing and communications support, has launched a program aimed explicitly at those impacted by tech layoffs this year. The program, titled “ Funded Not Fired, ” will write $100,000 checks into 20 startup teams by the end of the year.

entrepreneurship 99

entrepreneurship pitching energy venture capital 99

OnStartups

MARCH 24, 2021

That way, I still get to stay in touch with the thrill of startups, but I could do it vicariously through other entrepreneurs. During the first week of that class, we all had to do a short pitch of a startup idea and convince our classmates to join our “startup”. The Entrepreneur vs. Investor Dilemma. Or references.

angel investing 125

angel investing investment investing pitching 125

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 24, 2018

Part of being an entrepreneur or small business owner is getting excited about your venture. It can be referred to as your elevator pitch. Written for EO by Grant Polachek, the director of marketing at Inc. 500 company Squadhelp.com. It should inform people what unique benefit your provide to your customers.

strategy 130

strategy creativity pitching ventures 130

StartupNation

JANUARY 6, 2022

In this post, I’ll cover six realistic ways startups and entrepreneurs can fund their business , including: Incubators or accelerators. Angel investing is a type of investment where an individual or angel investor provides funding to entrepreneurs starting a new business. Angel investment. Venture capital or VC. Crypto lending.

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VC incubation business incubator angel investing 110