Paul G. Silva

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

Imagine the startup you most admire, or the dream you are most passionate about, and have a chance to live that story fast, fun, and without risk.

entrepreneurs 217

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship education incubation 217

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

CEO Travis Kalenick was caught on film arguing with an Uber driver about Uber’s new plans to lower fares. There was a comment in Susan Fowler’s original public post about her experience that struck me: “Travis should apologize and hire you back as a director.” Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own s.

coworking spaces 545

coworking spaces hospitality culture coworking 545

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 2, 2025

Here are a few things to remember about these events: When it comes to demo days, its unlikely that youre going to show up to the main event and see a top quality company whose round isnt largely spoken for. Engage people in an interesting conversation about a thesis that leaves people challenged and inspired to do something in a space.

VC 195

VC pitching B2B marketing networking 195

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

People are afraid that mistakes will reflect badly in a way that won’t make people want to work with you going forward, so they try to avoid talking about the past. If you left a bad job , you might worry about what it says to someone that you took it in the first place. What about if you got fired or pushed out in some way?

opportunity 533

opportunity 533

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

You can tell when a founder has a goto set of people in their network to ask all the dumb, remedial questions about hiring, fundraising, deal doing, PR, etc. We can argue about the why, but the fact remains true that not only are capital networks highly segregated, but so are the networks of successful founders themselves.

ventures 435

ventures networking creativity entrepreneurship 435

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

I reached out to about 15-20 other investors, of which about half were interested in taking a meeting. So what about all of the above statements—things that founders widely hold to be true barriers to fundraising? I appreciated her desire to get back to work, but I convinced her to agree to a 2-3 week sprint.

advice 429

advice pitching venture capital VC 429

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 11, 2025

That sick feeling in my stomach wasn’t just embarrassment; it was the painful recognition that I had let down an organization I cared about. Get Specific About the Gap Ask clarifying questions: “What would success look like in this area?” I chose the latter.

mentorship 130

mentorship coworking spaces coworking board 130

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 25, 2025

These are exactly the traps Collins warns about: when leaders become comfortable with the status quo, they miss the signals that change is needed. .” Testing my hypothesis meant work : It was easier to keep doing what I’d always done. I was spread thin : Running multiple organizations meant my attention was divided.

leadership 130

leadership angel investing entrepreneurship investment 130

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 13, 2025

You can talk all you want about reputation, but I dont know of a single instance of a VC that got access to a fund-returning deal because of a really thoughtful pass e-mail they sent in the past. Thats your problem, not theirs. Is it possible that theyre missing out on a deal from a founder because they ghosted the last deal?

pitching 370

pitching VC founder investment 370

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

I would propose that early stage startups start thinking about doing something radically different—think about trying to become the absolute best place to work if you have a family as a means of getting an advantage in the hiring market. How about paying into childcare costs, adoption, or IVF too?

hospitality 469

hospitality board energy pitching 469

Paul G. Silva

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

While it’s clear how this aligns interests initially and provides early returns to investors, I’m curious about the long-term sustainability of this approach. Instead, it asked: Your revenue-sharing model is somewhat unconventional in the startup investment space.

pitching 246

pitching advice sustainability entrepreneurs 246

Dream It

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

That’s a tell you feel uncomfortable talking about your MRR. Learning more about your customers’ problems and challenges will better equip you to properly position your product or platform. For example, an investor asks, “What’s your monthly recurring revenue?” And you’ll get asked the question again, and again, until you answer it.

VC 513

VC pitching health founder 513

Paul G. Silva

APRIL 1, 2025

This ties in nicely with a concept I often teach my students about Features vs Benefits. Establish clear definitions: Responsibilities: Outcomes you own Objectives: Benefits the organization needs to achieve Tasks: Activities that help reach objectives As I tell founders: “No one actually cares about the to-dos.

frameworks 147

frameworks leadership coworking spaces coworking 147

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 28, 2025

Jim Collins explains why: it’s not just about luckit’s about being ready for it and knowing what to do when it arrives. A Real Story: When Product Success Seems Like Luck Let me share a story about luck and persistence from our own experience. In BE 2.0,

entrepreneurship 130

entrepreneurship opportunity culture networking 130

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2022

You’re telling them X, Y, and Z about an industry and they can’t look you up on LinkedIn to see if you’re the right person to have a perspective on such things. This way, you get more information about the market, but it shows that you know that they’re pre-seed and not Series A. Why would you do that? 6) Break in.

VC 408

VC pitching communities creativity 408

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

That prediction obviously turned out pretty wrong, but it did drum up a whole lot of chatter about the right ingredients for building a startup community—about New York vs Boston on the East Coast and whether cities like Austin and Seattle would ever break through. What makes people like that want to live in any particular community?

communities 434

communities startup real estate mentorship 434

Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Beyond Just Setting Big Goals A Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) isn’t just about thinking biggerit’s about forcing yourself to innovate when the current way of doing things won’t get you there. Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0). ” At the time, we were running a startup accelerator for 6 companies.

innovation 130

innovation accelerator angel investing entrepreneurship 130

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 17, 2024

Yet, everyone’s got an opinion about how a company measures up, especially the founder. ( The fundraising process sucks for about a million reasons—not the least of which is that investors often lack clarity and transparency in their communication. I wrote about how “ both things can be true ” here. You sold your last company?

startup 410

startup micromobility consulting hospitality 410

Startup Blogpost

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Kristin Marquet, Founder, Tech/Analytics/PR Expert, Academic Finance Background, Marquet Media Kristin, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey to becoming an expert in the startup world, especially focusing on the intersection of digital marketing, health and wellness, and parenting?

media 105

media financing finance founder 105

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 21, 2025

It’s not just about hitting targets; it’s about giving your team a purpose they can believe in. Step 4: Put It to Work Break your vision into smaller goals Talk about it regularly in team meetings Use it to guide decisions Celebrate progress toward it Learn More Want to explore this topic further?

leadership 130

leadership entrepreneurship startup accelerator entrepreneurs 130

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Déborah spoke with the YLAI Network about her journey transforming theater in Peru, the way in which her diagnosis provided her with creative understanding, and her advice to create more inclusive organizations. In all of these efforts, she is most passionate about giving confidence to the community. “We government.

creativity 290

creativity communities peer-to-peer culture 290

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Entrepreneurs by nature are proactive, so let’s be proactive about our well-being As entrepreneurs, we are wired to “crush it.” More of our peers are writing about their struggles now, too. There is strength, however, in admitting that at times we feel crushed instead.

peer-to-peer 169

peer-to-peer health entrepreneurs entrepreneurship 169

The Seraf Compass

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

It is easy to talk about due diligence in the abstract, but it is much harder to practice what you preach. One of the hardest things about early stage investing is that it is really risky - if you don’t have some suspension of disbelief, and you obsess too much about cataloging every risk, you will never get a deal done.

investment 345

investment investing 345

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Make noise about things that matter to you. When your values are challenged, do something about it. Think about it. I knew nothing about running a business and had no management experience. From my mentor, Jane Bianchini, I’ve learnt so many things, both about business and about myself. Help them celebrate.

founder 262

founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

No blog post about how Tiger is crushing everybody because it’s deploying all its capital in 1-year while “suckers” are investing over 3-years can change this reality. We often knew about the teams before they actually set up the company or left their employer. So it’s about 20%. This translates to about 12–15 investments.

VC 416

VC strategy investment investing 416

Hunter Walk

OCTOBER 14, 2024

The order is important because I fell in love with the product before I even knew about the company, and the hustle of its founder/CEO Sandro Roco. Tell us a bit about Sanzo and how it was founded? That said, I knew nothing about this industry. I’m a Sanzo drinker. I’m also a Sanzo angel investor.

culture 96

culture collaboration startup financing 96

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 23, 2023

You answered a few basic questions about travel preferences, like pace, the fanciness of the hotel, etc., When someone passes with a broad brush, it’s really up to the founds to do two things: Do enough research to understand why VCs say whatever they say about this industry. Are the consumers not deep-pocketed enough?

incumbents 369

incumbents VC pitching investment 369

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 8, 2025

One of the lessons that I learned about startups was you can move quickly alone, but you can move fast further as a team, Godby said. We were building an amazing product that connects emotionally with consumers which we tell stories about to reach people. I felt like we had a working history and trusted each other, Godby said.

startup 98

startup culture entrepreneurship development 98

Founder Bounty

DECEMBER 23, 2024

Time and time again i hear about founders that have bigger egos then anything else rejecting offers from top tier VC's (like YC ) and eventually leading thier companies to fail. Building a startup is not about having an ego even though its your baby. These VC's will not only help you but will accel your business.

VC 105

VC accelerator investment investing 105

NZ Entrepreneur

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

This isn’t just about crunching numbers; it’s about gaining valuable financial insights that empower you to make informed decisions. This is super helpful for making smart decisions about your business, like whether to hire that extra hand or invest in that shiny new equipment.

startup 105

startup consulting sustainability frameworks 105