TechCrunch

JULY 4, 2022

A lot of pitch decks I review have a slide that really shouldn’t be there: the exit strategy slide. As an early-stage startup, it’s downright nonsensical, and it shouldn’t be part of your pitch deck at all. TechCrunch+ is having an Independence Day sale! Save 50% on an annual subscription here.

pitching 97

pitching strategy opportunity founder 97

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 25, 2013

Back in 2006, when I started working on putting together some community groups for entrepreneurs and tech people, I looked for a better name to reference this collection of people. Anyone who was doing something new and cutting edge should feel connected to each other--whether or not they are building a venture backed startup.

communities 294

communities innovation creativity real estate 294

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. Just saying your product is AI-driven will not cut it.

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pitching incubation board opportunity 98

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.

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pitching SaaS mix-use media 110

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

And I always encourage entrepreneurs to do reference checking. There are ones I’ve worked with like True Ventures, First Round Capital, Greycroft, Rincon Ventures … just to name a few. Always Pitch Outsiders for Follow Ons. My corollary for VC is “pitch outsiders and you’ll have great insiders.&#

VC 314

VC advice pitching investing 314

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Because I''m in my market and in the flow of top teams and networked with the right folks, I''m never more than a character reference away through someone I trust and know well to just about all of the people I''ve backed. In many cases, I got to know the entrepreneur before they were pitching or even had a deck.

investing 335

investing investment construction venture capital 335

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. 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 reality is that their core business is not venture capital.

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advice venture capital frameworks entrepreneurs 279

Dream It

APRIL 3, 2020

However, these executives usually have multiple lines of defense to shield them from sales pitches. This is why provocation-based selling requires the vendor to utilize what Moore refers to as “soft power”, specifically “relationship capital.” Then, when you are in the room establish a relationship around the problem, not the solution.

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pitching strategy advice board 221

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. Stuart Lander has joined Upfront Ventures to help us run operations.

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board VC construction opportunity 320

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. see if you can get them excited by your venture, and try to have them refer it to me.

pitching 153

pitching angel investing investing investment 153

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. But I’m no longer an entrepreneur – I’m a VC at a $200 million fund called GRP Ventures , the largest active fund in Southern California. I would say the same thing about True Ventures. They have a large-ish fund.

VC 283

VC real estate advice venture capital 283

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2010

When you’ve had 3 meetings, a partners meeting and some reference calls you’re not likely the only company in the circling pattern. Tags: Pitching VCs Raising Venture Capital VC Industry. You need to be aware of that and find a way to get land or get diverted. As you know, circling patterns suck.

VC 275

VC venture capital pitching board 275

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 am really surprised how many entrepreneurs pitch me and then I never hear from them again. Start with a very short thank you email the day after your pitch. This post covers the day after.

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VC pitching advice strategy 277

TechCrunch

AUGUST 26, 2022

Cloud companies generally rely on efficiency metrics like CAC payback and LTV-to-CAC, but “they feel more like financial metrics than operational ones, and it is difficult for employees to execute against these concepts,” according to Neeraj Agrawal, Brandon Gleklen and Jack Mattei of Battery Ventures.

pitching 80

pitching venture capital capital leadership 80

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. Same with True Ventures. I’ve covered that in this post on how to reference check your VC. Seeds deals.

VC 265

VC venture capital entrepreneurs investing 265

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

with $15 million to Prove It The venture capital world has started firing up a few cylinders again and looking for businesses that it believes will help us all succeed in ways that resonate with new ways of working as we begin to return to work. Bevy is Emerging as a Leader in Software for Building Virtual Communities?—?with

communities 234

communities peer-to-peer venture capital enablement 234

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling You can’t try to meet the executive team at Bird to understand the Upfront Ventures partnership dynamics because they’re too damn busy dealing with explosive growth. This is critical to build a cohesive venture capital firm.

VC 314

VC board investing investment 314

David Teten VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I’m surprised at how many funding pitches I get which lack some of the basic information which investors require before funding. 50% of these meetings led to pitches to individual partners. About 30% of partner pitches led to full partnership pitches. I suggest use the Founder Institute Mad Libs elevator pitch.

pitching 53

pitching ventures VC capital 53

TechCrunch

APRIL 1, 2022

Perfect pitch, a singer’s ability to produce any given musical note without a reference tone, is a rare phenomenon — only 1-5 people out of every 10,000 have it. While your odds of creating a perfect pitch deck that captures coveted VC interest aren’t quite that dire, they’re not exactly in your favor, either.

pitching 89

pitching VC construction venture capital 89

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Incidentally, VC’s hate when they hear companies pitching who say, “ I don’t have real competitors &# as I outlined point three in the linked post). It’s what kills most sales cycles including raising venture capital. They like to feel like they compared your solution to something else on the market. Why Buy Now?

startup 319

startup advice entrepreneurs networking 319

StartupNation

JUNE 1, 2021

However, what is often direly needed is how to appeal to investors and raise smart money — knowledge that is essential for fundraising and a master key to building, accelerating and scaling your new venture. The winners receive support, including an investment, to accelerate and scale their ventures. Be the learn-it-all. Keep it short.

entrepreneurs 109

entrepreneurs pitching construction accelerator 109

AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Register Startup founders need to be authentic and prepared when they get the chance to meet prospective investors, according to Rex Fong, founding partner at investment and advisory group Capitale Ventures. Fong’s Capitale Ventures is an investment and advisory group with expertise in complex, cross-border transactions.

ventures 97

ventures startup VC strategy 97

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

Kinda seems like that sometimes, right—that the venture capital community seems to chase after the bright shiny object of the moment in droves and then just as quickly moves on to the next new new thing. Back when I was at Union Square Ventures, Fred started to get really excited about podcasting. Geolocation is so 2009.

VC 186

VC venture capital media board 186

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. So, if your connection can't really speak that much to what you're doing, or you want to save them time, feel free to just point me to LinkedIn and tell me who we know in common that you think would provide a good reference.

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VC pitching entrepreneurs networking 291

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

Imagine the “typical&# deal – somebody comes into a VC’s office, they’ve never met, they’re highly referred by a friend and they’re pitching a product demo and a PPT. Tags: Raising Venture Capital Startup Advice. Some have “rules&# – everybody breaks them for the right deal.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Dream It

JULY 24, 2020

However, this means that a CISO sees a LOT of pitches in their role. As a startup, you may not have enough customer references, but referrals from peer CISOs who have signed up as design partners or completed successful PoCs are just as valuable. When pitching to a CISO, preparation is key. Do your homework.

peer-to-peer 195

peer-to-peer pitching incumbents opportunity 195

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

I recently sat down with Troy Carter to talk about what he does and why he believes it is applicable to venture capital. Influencers are inundated with requests for their time and have to develop filters of whom they trust and therefore who can refer them deals. ” “Mattel stepped up and changed the face of Barbie.

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venture capital communities VC entrepreneurs 228

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.

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pitching sustainability founder investment 88

David Teten VC

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund, Versatile Venture Capital , was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. . Linkedin : Versatile Venture Capital / David Teten personal. It’s also helpful for identifying people with whom we can do reference checking. RRM=Draft a response for me.

venture capital 123

venture capital capital ventures VC 123

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. It’s why I wrote that the best meetings are debates and not pitches. Get feedback.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

As a VC, burn rate is one of the most discussed topics I have with teams who are pitching me for raising capital and it is one of the most common discussions points I have with founders in companies that I’ve backed. 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.

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VC angel investing pitching entrepreneurs 159

TechCrunch

MARCH 20, 2023

The latest funding, which totals $550,000, includes backing by Flyer One Ventures, Geek Ventures, Vesna Capital and Imaguru and will go toward an international expansion that will make the product available in multiple foreign languages. For instance, this summer, Filmustage will become available in Spanish, French and German.

pitching 98

pitching creativity ventures founder 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. Understanding the fund vintage – “Vintage&# of a fund refers to when the fund was raised. Tags: Pitching VCs Raising Venture Capital VC Industry.

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VC venture capital investing investment 269

Paul G. Silva

DECEMBER 15, 2023

[This is part of a series on the KISS Canvas ] For over twenty years I’ve had the pleasure of co-founding a handful of ventures and mentoring hundreds of startup and intrepreneurial teams. A pitch deck template is great for telling a convincing story to investors, but not a practical guide for execution.

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funders innovation pitching ventures 130

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Gaetano Crupi is a partner at venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab. ” Every venture firm has its own idiosyncrasies in how it votes, but understanding that you are truly “dating” the entire firm when you get to larger rounds is a vital insight that I never appreciated. Gaetano Crupi. Contributor.

founder 97

founder strategy pitching venture capital 97

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2014

You''ll get a venture capital analyst from a brand name firm who has just recently taken his job talking about what makes a company successful. I''ve funded or committed to a few dozen seed companies in the last few years and worked for First Round Capital and Union Square Ventures--two of the best early stage firms on the planet.

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ventures startup venture capital pitching 384