Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

With VCs my strong suggestion is that you be open & realistic. Leaving your real competitors off of you presentation to a VC is not recommended. Think back to the slides in the VC deck where you define the customer problem you’re solving and what your solution does. Harvey Balls.

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VC education strategy opportunity 313

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. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. Both presenters are anonymized.

pitching 288

pitching VC advice strategy 288

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. Information Asymmetry - The biggest problem that presenters face in large (5+ people) is information asymmetry. This is true whether your at a sales meeting or at a VC firm. Congratulations. Does that sound ok?&#.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. I guarantee this is a bad VC. There are many great VCs.

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VC board consulting advice 297

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. This happens often and I bet most presenters never realize it.

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer pitching advice 275

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2015

I realized that I judge a lot of hackathons, pitch competitions and other various things on the weekends, and felt like I was losing at least 2 out of my 8 weekend days--so I gave myself back those days. It's ever present and always on. Out of those, I take about 150 new pitches a year--about 3 a week. It's more aspirational.

VC 419

VC pitching board construction 419

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2023

No more founder pitch meetings. I’ll also continue to work within the NYC tech community—now thriving at a level I could hardly have imagined when I first got the pitch deck for USV’s first fund as a Limited Partner at the GM pension fund. No new investments. No more responding to fundraising decks.

ventures 545

ventures investment investing VC 545

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. The short answer is that you should have multiple versions of your “pitch deck” (a short, visual presentation in Keynote, PPT or similar and shared as a PDF) and each occasion has a specific goal. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game.

VC 261

VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

The main driver of the skew towards men getting venture capital, statistically, is that far more men are pitching. That means you actually have a *better* shot, statistically, of getting VC investment at these firms, statistically, once you actually pitch. Once again, that''s all stats and doesn''t really explain anything.

founder 400

founder pitching mix-use venture capital 400

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting.

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VC advice pitching venture capital 238

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 26, 2020

This is the 2nd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. They have to be because about half of all angel/VC investments lose every penny invested. Weave the narrative through as much of your presentation as possible. So simplify your pitch. You can take the same concept and apply it to your pitch.

pitching 147

pitching startup VC investment 147

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

In order to understand how to “get to yes” with a VC you first need to understand how VC partnerships make decisions and then you can understand how to increase your odds of closing a deal. VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching. Reciprocity is equally destructive.

VC 314

VC board investment investing 314

Dream It

MAY 19, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin presents his view on the right way to answer it after hearing hundreds, if not thousands, of founder pitches. Make the specific amount you are raising and corresponding milestones clear at the beginning of the pitch, and do not give a range.

pitching 393

pitching board health VC 393

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

Many entrepreneurs pitching err on the side of too much information. You’ve all been to a presentation where you were overwhelmed with information and while you thought that lady was really smart you can’t remember anything about what she said the next day. How will you stand out from the masses of other people pitching.

advice 360

advice pitching disruption VC 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. If you haven’t read the other VC fund-raising posts I’ve done as part of this series you can find the whole outline and this first in the series here.]

VC 239

VC pitching strategy investing 239

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

M y company had raised a seed round of capital in late 1999 even before either of us were full time in the company (ominous side note: on the way to pitch our seed investor, Delta Partners, a man walking right in front of me died of a massive heart attack making me late to the meeting. 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC.

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startup founder founder startup VC 299

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

VC 296

VC advice pitching investment 296

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I have sat through countless pitches with Ivy League grads spewing off intellectual descriptions of the details of their product or service and why it will win in the market. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. These messages need to pass the cocktail party pitch. And I think this is a mistake.

entrepreneurs 370

entrepreneurs pitching startup education 370

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

I sit through a lot of presentations. These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. Each of these scenarios has a team presenting. Some CEO’s are masters at communicating when team members are present. Weave in their pitch to an overall pitch narrative.

pitching 377

pitching VC leadership advice 377

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I hope you’ll excuse me when I do the latter in combination with the former to try and explain how I see macro trends and help you think about the mind of a VC. Despite working for one of the top 2 talent agencies in LA, despite having had VC experience, Dustin chose another route. I asked him to present to my partners.

investment 303

investment investing VC media 303

TechCrunch

JUNE 22, 2022

Over the past two years, I’ve designed dozens of presentations for a variety of companies at various stages of fundraising — from startup SAFE rounds, to VC rounds and IPOs. Don’t build one presentation, build three. This is your main presentation, and it should be able to stand on its own without a speaker.

pitching 91

pitching VC opportunity entrepreneurs 91

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

The perverse nature of raising capital is that “no’s” almost always precede “yeses” because it’s very easy for a VC to tell you that you’re not a good fit without doing any real work to evaluate your company so you hear “no” far before others start doing more work. By the end the buyer forgets why they loved your presentation.

pitching 238

pitching VC mix-use entrepreneurs 238

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. Asking young companies with limited capital to pay to present to a group of potential investors is insane. 5 companies presented for 7-8 minutes each followed by Q&A.

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advice angel investing entrepreneurs pitching 254

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

years ago we read the “ RIP Good Times &# presentation from Sequoia. Will you get the TechCrunch bump, the tier-1 VC anointment, followed by great PR firm support and then the NY Times or WSJ story that follows? Not every problem has to be a huge VC-fundable business. They pitch me features, not value.

transportation 309

transportation VC networking energy 309

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 9, 2020

If you're in a more privileged position with lots of VC connections to pitch, you’ll either do one of the following things: You'll come right back at me, tell me why and how I'm wrong—because at this point you have nothing to lose.

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founder pitching VC opportunity 300

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Lisa Wu, a partner at Norwest with investments like Calm, Plaid, Opendoor and Grove Collaborative, has a message for founders: Think like a VC during your pitch presentation. After all, accepting capital isn’t simply adding more money to your balance sheet.

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pitching advice collaboration VC 76

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Do I have data or facts to present so the story has legs? ” The ultimate measure of success for a journalist is viewership so if nobody cares about your shitty little company and the story you’re trying to pitch then the journalist doesn’t want to publish. I am a VC. I hand out money.

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

You’ll pitch a new client by e-mail or you’ll ask people you’ve worked with to recommend you. Given that, why wouldn’t you want to present something a little bit different—something that shows off your best thinking? One of my VC coaching clients is looking for a position with a new firm.

networking 419

networking leadership creativity pitching 419

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 16, 2021

Led by Jan Heybroek, the closed, coached conversations facilitate shared experiences around one presenter’s specific business challenge in a deep-dive presentation format. Use these resources to understand how your company will look when you pitch a VC or angel. Business challenge: Scaling a SaaS business.

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SaaS leadership accelerator entrepreneurs 294

TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2022

Around May 2020, nearly everything moved online, and investment pitches were among the first to do so. However, a majority of VC firms only used an offline approach. It’s impossible for founders to “read the room” when pitching online, which puts them at a severe disadvantage. Why is a teaser so important?

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pitching startup VC capital 91

TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

No founder event would be complete without pitches! TechCrunch editorial is looking for 6-7 founders to take part in a Pitch Deck Teardown. Mastering the Pitch Deck Pitches are critical in the quest for funding and first customers. Without further ado, here are your judges for the TC Early Stage Pitch Deck Teardown.

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pitching real estate founder disruption 85

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

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

This was the example business model slide I used for my book “Pitch Perfect.” For the purposes of a funding pitch, however, it’s likely you only need a few crucial elements: COGS, or cost of goods sold, is the incremental cost for each unit you deliver. ” You can see the full template here.

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pitching VC creativity development 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

The value of Pitch Decks; Brad’s personal preferences on deal presentation; and Brad’s practice of accepting cold approaches via email. Are Pitch Decks becoming obsolete? It’s interesting that the question is pitch deck’s being obsolete versus business plans being obsolete. Aren’t pitch decks still the norm? “I

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venture capital pitching communities entrepreneurs 288

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. Similarly, one VC may encourage newly minted CEOs to eat ramen and ride the bus, while another might suggest a salary in the low six-figures, depending on geography.

pitching 98

pitching incubation board opportunity 98

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

The “team beneath the team&# was as talented as any top team that pitches me startups. When I started blogging as a VC I had zero idea it would lead to my current audience level of 350,000 page views / month. By the next Monday we had lost the deal to a NorCal VC. I could go on & on. Everyone always asks why I blog.

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investment investing VC board 310