Venture Well

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

Pitch competitions offer early-stage startups the opportunity to share their innovations, network with potential mentors and funders, and possibly gain access to funding and expert. The post pitch competitions: tips for success from winning teams appeared first on VentureWell.

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Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Among them, VCs and startups are forced to interact remotely and make deals without ever shaking hands. Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely.

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Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

Being self-sustainable has given us a new perspective on startup funding, especially compared to what I experienced on my first accelerator run. The press enhances this misconception around YCombinator demo days, where the 3-day pitch event is perceived like an auction, with investors fighting each other for the best deals.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

Pitch deck outlines are ok, but they don’t say much about what you’re trying to convey besides particular categories that may or may not be relevant. Too often people only pitch what they have, not where they’re going—and they forget that fundraising is selling tickets to the future, not asking for rewards for the past.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

But founders are often so consumed with talking metrics, milestones achieved, or the capital they need that they sometimes forget to talk about their overarching vision for their startups. Selling a compelling vision is so critical that some investors weigh it more heavily than the pitch deck itself. It’s not about the slide deck.

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Dream It

MAY 29, 2019

Startup pitch meetings are pretty predictable. You walk into a venture fund’s conference room or Zoom room (if they’re progressive), pitch the partners, offer to answer their questions, maybe ask them a bland question or two, and then leave the meeting to await a response. Steve Barsh.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

We did a previous dose on 5 things investors wish startups knew. Managing Partner, Steve Barsh , sat down to give us 5 MORE things investors wish startups knew. Keep reading for some more of the most common mistakes startups make when pitching and for Steve’s tips on how to fix them. Go here if you missed it. co-founder).

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Improving startup productivity ? Startup psychology / confidence ? Startup Lessons'

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

Here are five aspects of PR I feel like most startups need to do more of: 1) Fit all PR into a long term plan. And please, please, please don''t pitch VCs who blog to write about your company as if we were tech journalists. Get them to be your advocates by being theirs. 5) Give before you get. Venture Capital & Technology'

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2021

He has raised venture capital for his startups, helped hundreds of founders craft their pitch decks and fundraising strategy, and invested as a business angel. We asked him how founders can create the perfect pitch deck for their company. Some of these pitches were very informal, sitting at the bar or walking around.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 30, 2020

The problem is that your pitch is a combination of a bunch of individual components, each of whom an investor is going to have particular reactions to and sometimes a great reaction to one is enough to push you over the top—or sink your pitch. What gives?

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 17, 2024

Founders need to shift their thinking to an assumption of understanding—that investors who see thousands of pitches per year probably do understand what a founder is doing the vast majority of the time, and have simply decided that the risk/reward for investing in their company simply isn’t as good of a deal as others they’re currently looking at.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. The startup ecosystem is a terrific manufacturer of bad fundraising advice. Founders hit the street with their pitch deck, some make it, and some don’t, but nearly all of them ascribe a lot more human influence over the process than there probably is. I’m a female founder.

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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.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2022

What Alan recognized was that most IRL forums and networking events are absolutely awful places to pitch and here’s why: 1) When a VC shows up in person, they’re looking to replicate the kind of top of the funnel they would get in an hour or two’s worth of e-mail, and that’s not going to happen if you corral them into a corner for 30 minutes.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2015

People always tell me how smart they are or how much experience they have--or why they have a passion for startups. So I asked a few founders that I've worked with and they mentioned a word that struck me--because I've never heard any of the hordes of people in my inbox asking for internships, VC job recommendations and advice, etc.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2015

I had a few VC friends who immediately saw the parallel but others were scratching their heads saying, “How is a physical storage company – even if you pitch it as “cloud” – really a tech company?” ” Let’s start with some basics. And here’s the thing. Are the dinosaurs worried? ” Ha.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

We’ve all heard the anecdotes—the famous founder who pitched 1000 investors before any of them said yes. They think that if they just had enough money to market something, it would take off, yet whenever they pitch the app in front of a crowd of 100 people, the conversion and virality rate isn’t proven out at all.

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 22, 2015

We stayed in touch, doing a couple of tris together, chatting about startups, and venture, life, etc. He's direct, focused, and he gave me great feedback on what to teach about how to get teams working together at scale--so great that I roped him into giving the talk, and eventually co-founding the meetup group that CTO School became.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I love how open Danielle has been throughout the development of her startup Mattermark including honest reflections of when she has changed her opinion. Another founder … “When I pitched the idea to Adam, he was super on board,” Mr. Sloyan said. That’s what it feels like.”. All of my partners at Upfront do.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

After seeing Chamillionaire interact with several entrepreneurs both at events and as an investor I started introducing him to startups in an advisory capacity. Startup Lessons' It always started the same way – a founder would ask for an intro because they figured he could help with promotion. Welcome to the family.

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Because, you know, who doesn''t love a good startup list. It''s a story of a mechanical engineer turned startup entrepreneur who has seen how NYC actually works (and built a company to help it run smooth) from as deep undergroud as the East Side Access Project under Grand Central and as high as the roof of the NY Times building.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

So as a startup CEO you constantly have to suspend disbelief. ” A startup CEO’s job is to absorb stress so the team doesn’t have to. Startups have to be optimists because no rational person would actually believe you could build Uber into the amazing company that it is today. We just need your $500,000!!”

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Revolution

JANUARY 27, 2025

Reflections on Georgetowns 2025 pitch competition from TedLeonsis Last week, Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business once again became a launchpad for the next generation of bold thinkers and doers. startup ecosystem.

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Dream It

APRIL 23, 2019

Dozens of healthcare-focused voice tech startups have popped up in the last few years which are backed by top tier venture funds. That’s why in this article, you’ll get a comprehensive look at the startups using voice technology to make healthcare better, along with some of the VC’s and accelerators that are backing them.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

When I turn down the opportunity to invest in a startup, I really turn it down. It doesn''t help them improve their pitch or adjust their model. If an entrepreneur is going to invest their time pitching me or having a meeting--I''ll do my best to invest my time to have an opinion.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

When pitching a potential investor or customer, time is of the essence. But often, we’ll hear founders misstep and repeat easy mistakes that throw off Q&A flow and cause startups to lose points. But often, we’ll hear founders misstep and repeat easy mistakes that throw off Q&A flow and cause startups to lose points.

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Dream It

JULY 20, 2020

When you’re raising a bridge round and pitching investors, their first reaction may be that you’re in trouble. In this #DreamitDose, Managing Partner Steve Barsh gives founders tips on how to frame their bridge round ask, overcome assumptions investors often make, and provides a general way to structure startup bridge round pitches.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs. When you pitched me I really did love you. And you get to demonstrate your skill sets without even pitching. I call it, “Remind me why I love you again?” You’re in control.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

conversation literally every week with startups. Maybe they worked much of their career running a startup in a sector and years later they want to go after that market again and they know from day 1 what they want to build, why and why it would work or fail. million and in my second company we raised only $500,000 by choice.

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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. The amount you're raising is your ask.

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Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

How Iteration Transformed Valley Venture Mentors Before I co-founded Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) and for all of my time there, we experimented with different ways to connect startups with mentors. Iteration #1: High-Value, but Unsustainable Our first approach was simple: hand-match startups with mentors for one-on-one meetings.

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Startup Blogpost

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

20 Tips for Pitching New Business Ideas to Potential Investors To provide you with the best advice on pitching new business ideas to investors, we asked twenty CEOs, Founders, and other professionals for their top tips. You should highlight the potential future earnings while pitching your proposal. Balance is key!

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 14, 2020

The NVCA and Pitch Book are out with their Q3 report on the VC industry and what they report is that the VC industry continues to be very active throughout the pandemic. The startup economy is alive and well during the pandemic. Deal counts and deal values are stable to up over last year. Valuations continue to rise.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

If all my deals came as intros from trusted connections that I know for years versus at founder pitch events that''s interesting data. If you meet someone at a pitch event, they''ve already got a company and they''re looking to close as quickly as possible. In fact, that''s what I tend to do--at least, what I say that I do.

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 8, 2013

On top of that, anytime I talk to anyone who wants to get involved in startups but isn''t sure what they want to do, inevitably, I hear, "And then I was thinking maybe I should look into venture capital, too.". 2) People pitch you. I probably get around a dozen e-mails a week asking me how to get into venture capital.

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

We refer to people as "great entrepreneurs" in the startup community all the time--but are they? It was like someone gave him the instruction manual on how to pitch and no one else had it. Sure enough, the very next pitch sent a screamer his way. That brought up the question of what makes someone truly great at something.

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