Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2011

The best business plans are stories, and the best pitches are stories. Pitch tip: don’t start with a boring introduction; start with a slide showing a great picture, nothing else, and use that picture to tell your story. It’s well worth the time and money for anybody who ever talks to a business meeting, let alone an investor pitch.

pitching 98

pitching strategy technology angel investing 98

TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2021

Influential entrepreneurs like Paul Graham and Naval Ravikant always preach the need for startups to have founders-turned-investors on their cap table. Olubusi, who had built and exited a couple of startups over the years, also dabbled with angel investing for some time.

founder 130

founder angel investing pitching strategy 130

Onevest

APRIL 30, 2015

While the Wall Street Journal claims “very few start-ups” received angel investment in 2007, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies proclaims “90% of all see and start-up capital” comes from angel investors. Just 2% of startup financing actually comes from venture capital firms.

investing 116

investing investment coworking spaces startup 116

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

TechCrunch Live is a free weekly event featuring investors, founders, and startups with the goal of helping entrepreneurs build better venture-backed businesses. For years it was known primarily for its software scene — in addition to being the live music capital of the world. Register here. It’s free.

real estate 97

real estate VC angel investing culture 97

StartupNation

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Accelerators are highly competitive programs designed to help entrepreneurs succeed. Obtain funding from an angel investor. Angel investors are wealthy individuals looking to put seed money into a venture. In exchange for providing you with funding, angel investors take an equity position in your company.

real estate 91

real estate startup peer-to-peer accelerator 91

Entrepreneur's Handbook

AUGUST 3, 2022

Prepare a pitch & deck Pitch When I gave my first pitch, I made some mistakes, but after a few intros, I changed it to improve it. Before investor even decides to show some interest in your product, they’ll see your pitch. Prepare a deck Once you get the investor interested, you need to be ready with your pitch deck.

pitching 93

pitching VC investing investment 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) But if you have approached a senior member of your industry and if they’re on 4 advisory boards, have done 3 angel investments and probably have a full time gig themselves – it is hard to really get into the details of your company.

board 306

board startup advice VC 306

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 1, 2013

VCs, I believe that the purpose of venture investment is to serve entrepreneurs. Many of us, however, seem to regard investing as some kind of dodge or hustle. That is why some entrepreneurs have turned towards an alternative to getting investment from us. Many of us, fellow VCs, are a poor investors.

angel investing 289

angel investing financing finance entrepreneurs 289

TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

Dear Sophie, I’m an entrepreneur in Guatemala and would like to come to the United States to expand my tech company. In a deeply researched post, Mary Ann Azevedo and Alex Wilhelm examine how fintech overtook and outperformed every other sector to the point where its outlines mirror that of the broader venture market. “To

VC 80

VC incubation angel investing investing 80

Gust

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

All entrepreneurs know the feeling: your vision is crystal clear, but potential investors don’t get it. But that’s not something the kinds of folks who do most angel investing understand. One pitched investor whispered “don’t we have better things to do with our time?”). They ask small-minded questions. It’s maddening!

angel investing 107

angel investing pitching communities board 107

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.

VC 159

VC angel investing pitching entrepreneurs 159

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Entrepreneurs: if you’re looking seriously at angel investment, and you have the kind of product-market fit and management experience investors will like, you need to take a good look at convertible notes. Do yourself and the investors you want to talk to a favor: take a few minutes and do some homework on this issue.

angel investing 114

angel investing financing finance VC 114

Gust

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Twenty or so angel investors (me included) sit on tables arranged like a big U, with a table in the middle for a projector, and a screen in front. An entrepreneur has just finished his pitch. He did a good job on the pitch and the business looks like it has potential. We go on to the next pitch. Raise your hand.”

pitching 93

pitching strategy entrepreneurs startup 93

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Ideally, a business pitch is exciting because the business potential is exciting. Frankly, in a business pitch, I mistrust shows of undue optimism, passion, and resolve. I worry that early-stage entrepreneurs are working towards some mythological promise that will alone can make a business successful. Absolutely.

pitching 70

pitching entrepreneurs investing investment 70

Don Dodge

APRIL 6, 2015

Angel investing in tech startups is a gut wrenching and risky business. Most of them lose, but sometimes you invest in a “unicorn” and make 100 times your money or even more. I remember the Demo Day in 2007 where DropBox presented to about 30 Boston area Angels and Venture Capital investors.

incubation 40

incubation angel investing pitching venture capital 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. In most cases if you can’t get a prototype done you’re probably not an entrepreneur. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. That’s OK.

advice 291

advice VC pitching angel investing 291

Gust

DECEMBER 28, 2011

One of my pet peeves in pitches is the triple whammy of absurdly high profitability projections. I’ve seen entrepreneurs promising 30, 40, even 50 percent profitability in their projections. Why triple whammy? He goes on to explain several cases and contexts in detail.

pitching 79

pitching sustainability entrepreneurs startup 79

TechCrunch

MAY 11, 2022

million in pre-seed funding to prepare for its launch from investors including fashion entrepreneur Veronica M. The company has raised $2.5 Beard and current and former senior executives at Blackstone, Auslander said.

financing 82

financing finance investing investment 82

Gust

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Too many entrepreneurs develop a new product without regard for market demand , then build an entire strategy based on creating a need, rather than acting on an existing market need. The best entrepreneurs solve problems that they and their team have personally experienced. These don’t get funded. Experience the pain first-hand.

technology 167

technology disruption entrepreneurs education 167

Gust

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

It’s the result of several decades in high tech, three years as an investor in a local Oregon angel investment group , some consulting in due diligence for venture capital, and my experience as founder and co-founder of successful ventures. What I say here is my opinion and mine alone. Startup experience.

investing 70

investing investment startup angel investing 70

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

Of course, the most frequent question angels hear from entrepreneurs is: what’s the one key thing investors look for in the funding process? Angels want to know that you get this. And Rule #1 is: act like a great entrepreneur in your pitch, over drinks, and in the back of the cab. You have to read #3 and #2 first.

pitching 79

pitching entrepreneurs development investing 79

Gust

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

This may not seem fair to all you first-time entrepreneurs, but wouldn’t you choose to bet on a horse that has been in races before, and won, rather than an unknown in his first race? That’s how important the people are. What are investors looking for in the CEO and the rest of the top executives? Been there, done that, and won.

startup 147

startup networking energy entrepreneurs 147

Gust

DECEMBER 19, 2011

Whether you are looking for an investor or not, every good entrepreneur better plan for this journey before he finds his backside exposed. Investors like realists, but not wimps. A sustainable competitive advantage is not a destination, but a journey.

sustainability 98

sustainability disruption strategy technology 98

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

During the summer of 2010, I developed a workshop, A New ACEF Valuation Workshop for Angels and Entrepreneurs. To provide some reference points, I surveyed thirteen angels groups in North American to determine their recent experience in negotiating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies.

investing 125

investing investment networking ventures 125

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 315

communities innovation creativity real estate 315

TechCrunch

JANUARY 15, 2022

Among many of the entrepreneur catchphrases out there, the one that annoys me the most is: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Has Y Combinator’s new deal changed the early-stage investing game? 5 essential factors for attracting angel investment . To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. The new, new: .

SaaS 101

SaaS financing finance accelerator 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

If you haven’t read the post the thesis was that I care way more about watching the trajectory of your performance as a team (or individual) than I do about how good you “pitch” on the first day you come to see me. He wanted to be an entrepreneur. He waited to pitch me until he had a strong sense of what he wanted to build.

investing 303

investing investment VC media 303

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

. “The invoicing company” “When they started, they didn’t position themselves so much as a startup or as a tech company,” recalls Skype founder Niklas Zennström, whose venture capital firm Atomico would eventually become a Klarna investor in 2012. Pitch perfect, you might think. Siemiatkowski left undeterred.

investing 143

investing investment mix-use media 143

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2011

Ask around for who the top entrepreneurs are and this is a name that always comes up--mostly because of the big name angel round they raised and the upward trajectory of the business they run. I'm on the board of a yet to be announced investment that we have in common and this entrepreneur gets inbound calls from him.

board 278

board advice consulting angel investing 278

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

The pitches range from building the Square for micro-merchants in Latin America to creating a way to angel invest in your favorite athlete.” You can read more on that here. Recipients included the following fintech startups: CashEx, a currency exchange platform that leverages AI to help U.S.-based

startup 93

startup real estate funders data analysis 93

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

. “The invoicing company” “When they started, they didn’t position themselves so much as a startup or as a tech company,” recalls Skype founder Niklas Zennström, whose venture capital firm Atomico would eventually become a Klarna investor in 2012. Pitch perfect, you might think. Siemiatkowski left undeterred.

investing 82

investing investment mix-use media 82

Gust

JANUARY 5, 2012

But, the SEC limit on the number of shareholders is not the only issue entrepreneurs should consider. If large amounts of capital are required for startup companies to dominate a market, then the preferences of larger investors, such as angels and venture capitalists should be paramount in importance to entrepreneurs.

entrepreneurs 131

entrepreneurs investing investment capital 131

StartupNation

JANUARY 6, 2022

The way people fund their business has also been evolving and, in 2022, the traditional ways like angel investment and VCs will walk hand in hand with new and emerging blockchain-based options that offer loans outside the traditional banking system. Angel investment. Venture capital or VC. New fintech loans.

VC 110

VC incubation business incubator angel investing 110

TechCrunch

MARCH 15, 2022

So despite total funding for women-founded companies reaching $834 million in 2021, per Partech Africa — a VC firm and data tracker of African investments — and the number of women in venture capital increasing, t heir representation remains minute against a faster-growing percentage of startups run by men.

VC 115

VC founder networking investing 115

David Teten VC

JUNE 14, 2021

At my prior firm, ff Venture Capital, we invested in a company co-founded by Nate Jenkins , who had a successful exit, but not quite enough to buy a private plane. Angel Investing, Venture Capital, and Mentoring. Some VCs have formal “Scout” programs to compensate people for sourcing investments.

consulting 119

consulting founder investing investment 119