185 A Canvas That Tells a Story: KISS Canvas (v4.0)
Paul G. Silva
JUNE 3, 2021
[This is part of a series on the KISS Canvas ]. 30-page business plans are great for established businesses and terrible for startups that need to iterate quickly.
Paul G. Silva
Deal Breakers for Investors
Paul G. Silva
MAY 18, 2021
Caya and his team at Slidebean kindly interviewed me about often-invisible deal-killer for startup raising money: the investment-culture differences between varying groups of investors.
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How to Come up With Great Ideas
Paul G. Silva
APRIL 7, 2020
If your startup/organization/team struggles with ideation (the process of coming up with ideas), you fall into one of two camps: Those who struggle to come up with any ideas. Those who come up with plenty of ideas but struggle to identify which ones are worth pursuing.
A Tool for Consistent and Sustainable Startup Growth
Paul G. Silva
MAY 10, 2021
This is a repost from the Launch413 blog. Effective Tools Used By Launch413: A Case Study. When we created Launch413 in 2018, we had no idea what was just around the corner. We already knew entrepreneurs were one of the best ways to create prosperity in our communities and we knew how to help them. We also knew entrepreneurs were one of the most powerful forces for good in the world.
The Best Sales Forecasting Models for Weathering Your Goals
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Every sales forecasting model has a different strength and predictability method. It’s recommended to test out which one is best for your team. This way, you’ll be able to further enhance – and optimize – your newly-developed pipeline. Your future sales forecast? Sunny skies (and success) are just ahead!
What Should Founders Be Focusing On? SSRL Can Be Their Guide.
Paul G. Silva
MAY 29, 2020
Entrepreneurs and investors used to rely on strictly qualitative/gut methods of assessing progress and deciding what their next steps should be. In 2014 the great Steve Blank gave the startup world its first widely-respected quantitative assessment system: the Investment Readiness Level (IRL).
The Seven Flavors of Capital (for Startups)
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 17, 2020
Startups need capital to launch and grow. What many entrepreneurs don’t know is that startup capital comes in many different flavors. Each flavor has its own pros and cons and is appropriate for different situations.
RVI, Launch413, Innovation Accelerator – Growing and Thriving
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 7, 2020
For all my friends who kindly track the progress of my ventures, I have a short update :). Launch413 (the post-accelerator) – We’ve invested in 13 companies in just under 3 years, expanded our team of kick-ass Venture Advisors, and are starting to see some real results from our top companies. It is still early days, but the model seems to be scaling and our ability to deliver impact is growing.
Honored! Sigma Nu Tau
Paul G. Silva
MAY 7, 2020
The entrepreneurship faculty of Western New England University kindly inducted me as an honorary member of Sigma Nu Tau , the only academic honor society dedicated to entrepreneurship. My sincere thanks to WNE, and especially Mary Schoonmaker. Innovation Accelerator
Startup Pitching 301
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. In this post we’ll go over advanced-level (301) techniques. The one (maybe two) number rule. Most people can’t hold multiple numbers in their head.
B2B Pocket Playbook: End-to-End Guide to Sales Enablement
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Sales enablement is the strategic process of providing sales teams with the content, guidance, and mentorship needed to engage targeted buyers. It’s all about equipping sales professionals with the tools they need to put their best-selling foot forward. And if sales teams want to continuously sell better -- and faster -- their sales enablement process must have a game-winning strategy. It's time for you to start selling smarter - and hitting your sales number - with the best B2B database in the market. Get started today.
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A Canvas That Tells a Story: KISS Canvas (v3)
Paul G. Silva
MAY 24, 2020
[This is part of a series on the KISS Canvas ]. 30-page business plans are great for established businesses and terrible for startups that need to iterate quickly.
Startup Pitching 201
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
This is the 2nd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. In this post we’ll go over intermediate-level (201) techniques. Front load credibility. Investors are cynical. They have to be because about half of all angel/VC investments lose every penny invested.
Startup Pitching 101
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
As a mentor once told me… It doesn’t matter if you have the best opportunity in the world, if you can’t communicate it you’re dead. This is obvious. Yet… I’ve seen thousands of presentations and the vast majority of them were confusing as heck.
4 Questions to Find Your Price
Paul G. Silva
FEBRUARY 9, 2021
This long, detailed, and excellent article is chock full of valuable advice on pricing. One part that particularly stood out for sharing are the four questions to ask a potential customer to help you determine where to price your product. At what point is this way too expensive that you would never consider purchasing it? At what point is this starting to get expensive, but you’d still consider purchasing it? At what point is this a really good deal? You’d buy it right away.)
Pressure Points: How to Ensure Your B2B Pipeline Passes Inspection
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
This eBook highlights best practices for developing a pipeline management process that helps sales leaders and their team C.L.O.S.E (you’ll see what we mean in this eBook) more revenue through data-driven prospecting, stage analysis, and subsequent sales enablement.
Selecting the Top Angel Deals in the Northeast… on Google Sheets
Paul G. Silva
APRIL 1, 2020
I am told that the angel groups of the Northeast have one of the best systems for syndicating deals in the country. There are many parts to making that happen. I have the privilege of running the nomination, application, and selection processes.
RVI’s New Model 9 Months in: 2x members, more investments, more diversification
Paul G. Silva
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
For 14 years I’ve led the River Valley Investors angel investor network. A year ago the group was on death’s door. Membership was down to the lowest levels since I’d taken over leadership from our founder and my mentor, Joseph Steig. And none of us knew that COVID was just around the corner. If RVI failed then our region would have lots its only active angel group – a huge potential blow to local startups. It was time to pivot.
The Quick and Easy Way to Find the Best Applicant From Among Hundreds
Paul G. Silva
AUGUST 13, 2020
One of my favorite jokes goes something like this: Whenever a new position opens up, and I have to sort through a stack of resumes, the first thing I do is take half of them at random and throw them away. I don’t want unlucky people working in this department. As with many good jokes, it’s funny because it has a nugget of truth to it.
Rubber Duckies by Gaetanlee
Paul G. Silva
JANUARY 12, 2020
My thanks to Gaetanlee for making this delightful rubber duckie picture (now the header image for this website) available for all to use! Innovation Accelerator
Marketing-Led Post-COVID-19 Growth Strategies
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Businesses are laying off workers, shutting their doors (some permanently), and struggling to react to the radical destruction that coronavirus (COVID-19) is doing to our society and communities. However, there’s no team better suited to lead that charge than the marketing department.
Startup Pitching Checklist
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 27, 2020
This is the checklist / boil down of the techniques listed in the pior 3 posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. After you complete a draft of your pitch, go over this list to make sure you’ve applied as many of the techniques as possible. Beginner (101). One rehearsed presenter – Pick one person to deliver your presentation, don’t tag team your pitches.
RVI’s first virtual angel group meeting a success, here is how we did it
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 19, 2020
The River Valley Investors angel group just ran our first virtual meeting today. In case anything we learned can be valuable, below is a copy of a blog post we just published on our blog showing what we did to make it work. I know several other groups already ran virtual, so I’d love to hear any other best practices people have patched together.
A Taxonomy of Customer Pains and Benefits
Paul G. Silva
JUNE 30, 2020
Your company’s value proposition must provide benefits that perfectly match your customers’ pains. First-time entrepreneurs asked to document their hypotheses about Pains and Benefits often experience “blank canvas” paralysis , the inability to get started because of a lack of a clear starting point. This blog post aims to provide a set of categories and examples to guide an entrepreneur to find the relevant pain hypotheses. Each heading lists a category of Pain/Benefit.
Best Distillation of Exit Strategies I’ve Seen
Paul G. Silva
JUNE 1, 2020
Marty Zwilling recently published a blog post with the most concise distillation of the possible exit strategies a for-profit startup can take and why an entrepreneur should be thinking about them from very early on. Hat tip to Paul Nicolai for sending me the article! Innovation Accelerator
How ZoomInfo Helps Overcome the Top Pain Points of Inside Sales
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
Recent digital transformation has shifted the B2B landscape by ushering in the era of buyer empowerment. With more access to user reviews, analyst opinion, and industry research, decision-makers are more informed than ever while navigating what is now known as the “buyer’s journey.”
The Power of the Spa!
Paul G. Silva
FEBRUARY 3, 2020
Arguably the #1 customer discovery how-to guide is the book Talking To Humans. Here is a jem: One aspiring entrepreneur wanted to target mothers of young children. She had heard stories about talking to people in a coffee shop, but felt like it was too unfocused. So she tried hanging around school pickup zones, but the moms were too busy and refused to speak to her. Next, she tried the playground, where she figured moms would be bored watching their kids play.
RVI’s Guide To Running a Virtual Angel Group Meeting
Paul G. Silva
APRIL 9, 2020
This post contains our up-to-date set of best practices on how the River Valley Investors angel group runs our meetings online. Last updated on: 4/9/2020. Technology of choice: Zoom. Before the event, we ask everyone to log in with a device with a camera so we can see each other. They all have been invited to a google calendar event with the link embedded in it. Created Breakout Rooms (Networking, Startup, and Scheduling) from the get-go.
Congrats to a Former Student Making The World A Better Place
Paul G. Silva
DECEMBER 16, 2018
So much food goes to waste in our country every year. So many people are hungry. It is literally cheaper to throw food away than to give it away… until now. A few years ago I had the honor of mentoring Maria Rose Belding when she and her partners at Means Database were in the Valley Venture Mentors startup Accelerator. Her social venture is organized and dreams like a high tech silicon valley startup – but all of that energy is directed to doing good, at scale.
Western Mass Demo Day! Wha who!
Paul G. Silva
MAY 24, 2019
Western Mass Demo Day Connects Local Startups to Investors. This is an invite-only event for active & accredited investors to hear pitches from startups with a connection to Western Massachusetts. Startups get an optimized way to meet a room full of different investors, many with a strong interest in companies connected to the region. Investors get a first look at the startups, meet the founders, and network with other investors.
Marketing Ops: The New Revenue Hero
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
As data continues to play a starring role in today’s B2B organizations, both marketing and sales operations professionals are poised to solidify their place as critical revenue drivers. In particular, the evolution of the Marketing Operations (Ops) role has created a new standard in marketing and has become a vital component of an organization’s success.
Facilitating AccelVT Energy 2019 Cohort
Paul G. Silva
MAY 24, 2019
I often talk about how startups are the ones out there saving the world. This summer I have the delight of facilitating the newest cohort of the AccelVT Accelerator. This accelerator focuses on “ startup and/or seed stage ventures who offer new technologies, or novel applications of existing technologies, aimed at reducing fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions in the heating and/or transportation sector.
An Engine to Find Product/Market Fit
Paul G. Silva
APRIL 12, 2019
Previously I shared Brad Feld & Neeraj Agrawal’s descriptions of how hard it is for a startup to achieve product/market fit… and the ramifications of that failure. Recently Jim Stanczak kindly shared an article identifying the solution : a numbers-based, systematic, empirical process for measuring product/market fit and iterating your product towards it. This article is pure gold. Highlights: 0) Anchor on a leading indicator.
Entrepreneurs give me hope when I need it most
Paul G. Silva
JULY 16, 2018
When I talk about politics I am filled with sadness and a sense of near powerlessness to make the world a better place. But when I talk to entrepreneurs, I am filled with hope. Where most of us see problems, they imagine solutions… and solutions that scale. Here are just some of the companies blowing me away, all local/ VVM companies making the world a better place! Immigration.
How Much Due Diligence Does An Angel Really Need To Do?
Paul G. Silva
JULY 11, 2018
Due diligence (AKA “doing your homework” on a startup to see if investing is the right call) should clearly take time… but how much? Marianne Hudson, executive director of the Angel Capital Association (the trade association for angel investors in the US) wrote an article on this topic. Her full article (with her permission) appears further below. One of the biggest debates in the angel industry is how much due diligence investors should do before they invest.
What We Learned From Our Own Data-Driven ABM Strategy
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo has created the following eBook to help other B2B organizations gain insights on how to launch their own data-driven ABM strategy. In this eBook, we will reveal the good and the bad from our own campaign and highlight some key takeaways on how to improve your ABM strategies moving forward.
Launch413 Completes Seed Round
Paul G. Silva
DECEMBER 6, 2018
My thanks to the many people who put their faith in Rick Plaut and my new venture, Launch413. A special thanks to the many members of River Valley Investors who provided the pre-seed funding to get us started and then played a big part in finishing our seed round. For those that don’t know Launch413, we are an alternative venture fund that takes startups from Launch to their first $10 million in revenue.
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