Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. The founder negotiated with the fund and ultimately accepted a 15% lower price.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

For starters let me use “CEO” as a proxy to include her “inner circle” which might mean co-founders or might just mean senior execs of the business. The Mind of the Founder. The mind of a founder is wired differently than most people. The startup CEO was not the original founder.

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startup peer-to-peer VC culture 417

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

So I organized a team dinner with all four of my partners and all three of their founders. By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. In the 2003/04 timefame I was living in the UK and running my first company. 15 companies North of $1 billion exit. I knew what this meant.

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consulting advice collaboration VC 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

So I organized a team dinner with all four of my partners and all three of their founders. By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. In the 2003/04 timefame I was living in the UK and running my first company. 15 companies North of $1 billion exit. I knew what this meant.

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

In the 2003/04 timefame I was living in the UK and running my first company. As the founder & CEO I personally went and met with as many people at Thames Water as I could. You can try to convince them of your “pay no more once you’ve signed up&# model but they fall for the other guy’s pitch every time.

consulting 151

consulting advice collaboration support 151

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Spend time researching your buyers and not just pitching them. Trust doesn’t come from one 45-minute Powerpoint pitch or 30-minute demo. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Why buy me?

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strategy development VC advice 366