Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

I invested in LA-based Gogii , one of the fastest growing, most exciting mobile social networking companies you’ve never heard of and maker of a product called textPlus. I only recently invested and I only got here through persistence. The opportunity came up to invest in this one and I pounced. But I never gave up.

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. In fintech, the problem is especially prominent: Women-founded fintechs have raised a meager 1% of total fintech investment in the last 10 years. of the funding raised since 2009, while Latinx female founders saw only 0.4%

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VC startup leadership communities 123

Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Martino founded Bullpen in 2010 with a focus on post-seed, pre-Series A startups, and he led the fund’s investments in companies like FanDuel, Namely, Ipsy, SpotHero, Classy, and Airmap. This geographic distinction is now less about actual geography and more about mentality and style of investing of these types of firms.

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StartupNation

JANUARY 20, 2022

As the e-commerce industry continues to boom and work from home remains a trend amongst the corporate sector, more entrepreneurs are using their funds to create new digital startups in a number of niches. In fact, VC-based funding has boomed within the last decade, reaching a whopping $753B worth of investments since 2009.

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venture capital capital ventures startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc.

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accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

In the early spring of 2009, the fundraising nuclear winter of the previous year hadn't yet thawed. Many of you entrepreneurs know that feeling. The funding was anchored by a major commitment from Two Sigma Ventures, the private venture investment affiliate of Two Sigma Investments. VCs pitch for money, too.

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ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

StartupNation

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Related: A Practical Guide to Diversity for Startups and Entrepreneurs. According to a recent Crunchbase study , the number of companies founded by women doubled from 10 percent of global startups in 2009 to 20 percent in 2019. There’s also been tremendous growth when it comes to dollars invested in female-founded companies.

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innovation startup creativity funders 97

TechCrunch

MAY 27, 2022

To learn more about the underlying market forces and hurdles facing entrepreneurs and investors in this maverick industry, she spoke to four investors: Jacqueline Bennett, managing partner and co-founder, Highlands Venture Partners. Emily Paxhia, managing director, Poseidon Investment Management. Eager Entrepreneur.

financing 82

financing finance pitching transportation 82

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Some of Ann’s investments include Lyft, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Refinery29, JoyRun, TaskRabbit, and Modcloth. Given the success of her investments she was on the 2017 Midas List of top 100 venture capitalists. Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. What and when was your very first investment?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs.

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VC peer-to-peer entrepreneurs board 374

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

The other entrepreneur quoted in the story is from a guy pitching a Pinterest clone. The last closed market we had was from about September 2008 until June 2009--10 months. We're seeing, for the first time, investment and some disruption in huge areas like education, food, healthcare, government and even hardware based startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. Unemployment continues to rise – Unemployment as of September 2009 is 9.7% This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment.

VC 269

VC startup advice innovation 269

TechCrunch

APRIL 13, 2022

TC Sessions: Mobility will feature speakers on the main stage, a bevy of startup exhibits, demos, networking and a live pitch-off with a pretty sweet prize. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. Who will be on our stage? Turning an AV Innovation into a Product. Founders — apply here.

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micromobility transportation pitching collaboration 82

TechCrunch

APRIL 12, 2022

TC Sessions: Mobility will feature speakers on the main stage, a bevy of startup exhibits, demos, networking and a live pitch-off with a pretty sweet prize. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. Who will be on our stage? Turning an AV Innovation into a Product. Founders — apply here.

micromobility 78

micromobility transportation pitching collaboration 78

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 7, 2012

If they are out there, others need to hear about them more--not in a pitch but in a better way to share cutting edge ideas. That's what will attract the best entrepreneurs here--an opportunity to push limits and explore the future of innovation. It can't and won't be market scale or, in the near term, investment capital.

creativity 264

creativity opportunity culture communities 264

TechCrunch

APRIL 15, 2022

TC Sessions: Mobility will feature speakers on the main stage, a bevy of startup exhibits, demos, networking and a live pitch-off with a pretty sweet prize. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. TechCrunch Mobility Pitch-off. Who will be on our stage? Turning an AV Innovation into a Product. Founders — apply here.

micromobility 71

micromobility transportation pitching collaboration 71

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. This post highlights some of the reasons why the market is moving again and what entrepreneurs should do about this. billion.

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VC venture capital networking innovation 255

StartupNation

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Related: A Practical Guide to Diversity for Startups and Entrepreneurs. According to a recent Crunchbase study , the number of companies founded by women doubled from 10 percent of global startups in 2009 to 20 percent in 2019. There’s also been tremendous growth when it comes to dollars invested in female-founded companies.

innovation 45

innovation startup creativity funders 45

Entrepreneur's Handbook

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

(Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.) Take a densely packed forest, add a steep pitch, and throw in a couple feet of fresh snow, and I’m in heaven.

hospitality 104

hospitality investing investment advice 104

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2012

When I first sat down with Josh back in September of 2009 to talk about joining First Round. That's why I'm not hiring any junior investment professionals. Plus, you simply don't have the same economics--you're the rookie who is killing it but who isn't up for the fat free agent contract until they've got more years of service time.

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capital VC pitching venture capital 236

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Ironically enough, the second nudge she gave my career also had to do with AOL--ten years later when in 2009, she introduced me to Jon Brod who was forming AOL Ventures. She also helped build up the ecosystem that I get to invest in through her work with hackNY and participation in NYC Resistor. Are there examples of that?

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. Example: if a VC is on their fourth $200 million fund that they just raised in 2009 then you might hear them talk about $800 million under management.

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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

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

Geolocation is so 2009. I can be frustrating for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to get a VCs interest until someone else is interested as well, but there’s actually a logic behind it, believe it or not. Ok, so we’re all doing social TV now. Haven’t you heard?

VC 186

VC venture capital media board 186

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2010

Geolocation is so 2009. I can be frustrating for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to get a VCs interest until someone else is interested as well, but there’s actually a logic behind it, believe it or not. Ok, so we’re all doing social TV now. Haven’t you heard? Momentum at the right time paves the way for startup success.

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VC venture capital media board 150

Founders Coop

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Just two years later, in 2009, we worked out a deal to create the Techstars Seattle program, with our first program running in 2010. From the beginning, we were deeply committed to Techstars’ “give first” ethos and mentorship-driven approach to startup investing. Bottom line, Techstars needed cash.

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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.

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advice VC pitching angel investing 291

StartupNation

MARCH 10, 2021

Founded in 2009, Duo Security has grown into one of the top tech companies in the Midwest—and the country. They plan to use these investments to help grow their team and scale their product. Just recently, BrandXR received funding deals in the Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch competition. Duo Security. Atomic Object.

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startup coworking spaces culture communities 77

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

My mom was an entrepreneur – she was kind of my inspiration for entrepreneurship. And no one could see me as anything but a startup guy, so I started a second company and called myself a serial entrepreneur. Then everyone just started calling me a serial entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur you have to suspend disbelief.

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startup entrepreneurs consulting board 337

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. But if you invest smartly, and spread your risk over a large portfolio, the winners will pay for all the losers and return a nice overall profit.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 10, 2021

If your startup has a clear brand pitch, “an enticing offer” and “clear next steps,” you’re ready to reach out to influencers , he says. Last week, Kickstarter announced that people have backed more than 200,000 projects with $6 billion in pledges since the company launched in 2009.

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pitching disruption mix-use leadership 96

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

If you do a capped note it’s bad for the entrepreneur. Since 2009 I have been counseling people to offer discounts to the first angel investors. Here is what I recommend very often – privately – to startup entrepreneurs for angel funding. The second way is to pitch them like normal but offer them a discount.

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financing finance pitching VC 294

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 5, 2016

This article was originally posted on Inc.com, a partner of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization , the world’s most influential community of entrepreneurs. Once your life shifts from pitching outbound to defending against inbound, however, you have to ruthlessly say “no” as your default.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

JULY 22, 2022

( Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions. ) ( Note to reader: this week’s essay is a continuation of my piece from last week, “A Samurai, a Knight, and a Yankee”.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

In Austin’s tech world, there’s an entrepreneur everyone knows by one name: Whurley. “Whurley” is the Unix username for serial tech entrepreneur Will Hurley, and it’s his brand. In addition, he created Ecliptic Capital, a $100 million evergreen investment fund that could grow to $150 million by the end of the year.

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transportation entrepreneurship capital entrepreneurs 93