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. Then I realized that it's probably not obvious what the dynamics are around how VCs tend to get introduced to companies and what works best for people, so I figured I'd blog about it. The Cold Intro. If I don't.

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VC pitching entrepreneurs networking 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&# I understand the appeal of having many VC firms on your cap table. In my second company I had only 1 investor. I love that.

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VC advice pitching investing 314

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Besides, there were a limited number of places where I could do my job in venture capital anyway—and while I might be a go to for a pitch from super early stage pre-seed and seed founders looking for quick answers and decisive term sheets in New York City, the reality is that I would be pretty far down the list in the Valley. Plenty of bros.

culture 356

culture VC communities education 356

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2014

These are things that other VCs think about, but founders who come to pitch don''t think about too much. as a VC, sometimes your own website becomes an afterthought. How many more investments could I do? How where things going? That''s also why I''m finally launching a real website at brooklynbridge.vc. So there ya go.

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pitching board VC opportunity 413

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

My friend and fellow SoCal venture capitalist Peter Lee wrote a post about the different roles within a VC and spent much time on the role of an associate. These are the permanent members of a VC. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

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VC pitching entrepreneurs advice 308

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Back when I was pitching my previous startup to investors, it had never really dawned on me that they had experienced what I was going through--and that a VC firm was essentially a startup. VCs pitch for money, too. No one ever thinks about VCs having to pitch, who they pitch to, or how it works.

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ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

Revolution

AUGUST 2, 2022

Rise of the Rest also hosted a Northwest Arkansas Startup Community Roundtable to help connect individuals within the regional innovation ecosystem with those visiting for the Heartland Summit to share experiences, challenges, and best practices for supporting entrepreneurs. Where we went: Charleston, SC ?? Where we went: Chicago, IL ??

economic growth 344

economic growth innovation communities startup ecosystem 344

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

I remember my VCs telling me they would be supportive yet I knew the ultimate decision would only come if I were truly out of cash and needed more money. Also, make sure you know several partners at the VC firms who have invested in you because in tough times it helps to have very broad support.

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pitching VC mix-use entrepreneurs 238

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

You don’t have the revenue or profit to support that valuation.” Many entrepreneurs pitching err on the side of too much information. ” The report also notes that 75% of mega financings are led by non-VCs. That could lead you to conclude that there’s more evidence that VC is being disrupted by outsiders.

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advice pitching disruption VC 360

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 13, 2012

He oozed a quiet confidence--like a baseball pitcher who had all his stuff working and knew exactly in his head the pitch he was going to finish you off with. No need to get worked up about it--it was just about executing what you had in your head, like he had done on each pitch before during this game. (A The answer: it wasn't.

pitching 360

pitching culture VC consulting 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

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. The challenge that many startups face today is: Are you really providing enough value?

transportation 309

transportation VC networking energy 309

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. This is true whether your at a sales meeting or at a VC firm. This happens often is sales meetings or VC meetings. As both an entrepreneur (in VC and sales meetings) and as a VC I’ve seen this happen many times.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , the pre-seed and seed stage VC fund I run in NYC, has invested in 64 companies in the last six and a half years. There is strength and support in numbers. Twenty-five of them have at least one female co-founder. Fifteen had co-founders over 40. Five have LGBTQ+ founders.

venture capital 413

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 413

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. It is clear that he is simply passionate about being a VC and participating in this industry. What are the most common mistakes in first pitch?

capital 284

capital board VC pitching 284

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

I’m the on-paper poster child for “who can get VC dollars”. An investor who doesn’t support a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions isn’t likely to trust women with incredibly difficult decisions in general. I’d argue that the answer is no, but that’s easy for me to say, right? It permeates everything about them.

financing 417

financing finance board VC 417

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). By this time many accelerators were being created nationally and a few were getting off the grounds in LA, too. Yeah, he was LA, baby!

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accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. There are other great VC’s in SoCal and there is always the allure of the NorCal guys flying down and talking about how they invested in Google, Facebook, Yahoo! We had made the decision that we would no longer be supporting IE v 5.5 (we

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consulting advice collaboration VC 333

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

You don’t need everyone, you just need a few core believers and having a hard “why buy me” pitch makes it easier to find and convert those leads. a firm differentiator means that not everyone will buy into your thesis but that’s okay. This is all about creating scarcity and being willing to walk away, but doing it with a smile on your face.

investing 375

investing investment ventures pitching 375

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. There are other great VC’s in SoCal and there is always the allure of the NorCal guys flying down and talking about how they invested in Google, Facebook, Yahoo! We had made the decision that we would no longer be supporting IE v 5.5 (we

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

How can you get free money and other support for your business idea? . We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. You could also live in a local “hacker house” for community support, e.g., Edyfi , The Garden , or Womxn Ignite. Right here.

founder 144

founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

Entrepreneur's Handbook

DECEMBER 13, 2020

The Future is Uncertain, Your Pitch Deck (and Profitability) Can’t be On the off chance you need to be reminded, factors that can make or break your business are unpredictable, and 2020 has reminded us in no uncertain terms how quickly market opportunities, customer demands, and institutions can change irrevocably at a moment’s notice.

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pitching VC founder financing 109

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? One of the main co-investors was High Peaks capital and one of their team members, the uber talented Rahul Gandhi , loved the deal so much he quit his career as a VC and jumped in as a co-founder. And could we then compete?”

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real estate ventures innovation pitching 380

TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2022

Andrew Gershfeld is a partner at Boston-based Flint Capital , an investment company supporting entrepreneurs from Israel, Europe and the U.S. 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. Share on Twitter.

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pitching startup VC capital 91

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. These are weaved through your story.

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advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

They get pitched by so many blowhards that more genuine people who aren’t in it for just a story stand out from the crowd. Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. Some final thoughts on PR.

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pitching media advice venture capital 319

TechCrunch

JULY 16, 2021

Yet, that is what Spanish marketing expert and entrepreneur Alex Barrera often ends up doing with startup founders who hire him to help improve their pitch. What do people often misunderstand about pitch training? For those with a bit more experience, pitching is about a set of slides to achieve a certain goal, mostly funding.

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pitching startup consulting collaboration 107

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 15, 2013

When he pitched, he was the proverbial "guy with an idea." Most VC funds wouldn''t touch a pre-product app company. The level of talent and supportive collaboration among the community at Studiomates checks both boxes and continues to ensure that everything he puts out is top notch.

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creativity education pitching collaboration 278

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2015

Try to imagine if you *didn’t* already know Amazon and the company walking into VC meetings telling people they were going to disrupt the selling of all goods starting with books but then extending into electronics, apparel, toys and so forth. ” Let’s start with some basics.

real estate 364

real estate startup disruption incumbents 364

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2024

It’s easy for a VC to just stick within your own networks and filter bubbles—and hard to scale being “open” without opening the floodgates. I didn’t care much whether you curated the room or not, because it was a chance for me to spend an hour or so talking to 50-100 people.

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communities consulting creativity advice 350

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

Non VC Growth Rounds. The other major trend of 2012–2015 was the entrance of “non VCs” into late-stages of venture capital , which mostly consisted of hedge funds, mutual funds, corporate investors, sovereign wealth funds and even LPs doing direct deals. The fact that I still see it referred to in pitch decks is farcical.

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venture capital capital ventures VC 271

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2021

I’ve sat at both sides of the table as a founder and a VC, and I understand how difficult it is to get them on the same page. I’ve participated in a number of accelerators, including Disney and Techstars, and these programs gave me a noticeable advantage when I stepped into VC. Reconnect with impact investing.

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accelerator VC mentorship pitching 86

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Luckily for aspirational baseball players, pitch velocity, spin rate, and just about every other aspect of playing baseball are highly quantifiable in real-time. You throw a pitch and you don’t find out the speed for a year or even longer. That pitch you threw a year ago, that was 92. Actually, it’s even worse than that.

pitching 243

pitching peer-to-peer board VC 243

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 3, 2021

It’s a safe space to have frank discussions, share woes and triumphs, and get support through it all. Monthly sessions share best practices, resources and cover everything from marketing, presentations, ghostwriting, publishing tips, pitching–any and everything related to promoting authors and speakers. MyEO Education.

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education VC pitching support 236

Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

Then, I stumbled upon PE/VC after chatting with a good college buddy of mine. Since then, I joined Vitalize Angels as a founding member, which allowed me to get a full view of the deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support process. I was already investing in public stocks, bonds, and preparing to make my 1st home purchase.

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VC ventures angel investing venture capital 98

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. She previously founded Dress for Success, a network that empowers women to thrive both professionally and personally, and Crisis Textline, a non-profit that provides crisis intervention support via text. Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate.

VC 111

VC entrepreneurship pitching strategy 111

TechCrunch

MAY 5, 2021

Other perks include three months of free business development support. How to Create Product/Market Fit with Dan Olsen, author of “The Lean Product Playbook” Outreach Strategies for Contacting VCs and Press with Annie Kadavy of Redpoint Ventures and TechCrunch editor Danny Crichton. That’s right.

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disruption support founder pitching 87

Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 13, 2022

A Very Honest Guide to Writing Your Fundraise Pitch Deck How to optimise yours for success Congratulations! You know you need a pitch deck to do this and so fire up your slide software of choice and crack your knuckles, ready to wow. I’m an investor at Supernode Global , an early-stage VC fund based in London.

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pitching advice accelerator investing 79