Gust

DECEMBER 3, 2011

And I don’t mean because they lend a credible name to an investor pitch: way too many entrepreneurs look at names on Advisory Board as just a way to expedite a raise. If that’s all you really expect of the Board, you’re cheating yourself as well as the investors before whom you dangled the names. Not really.

board

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

I think his advice is this op-ed is bananas. I have even had to get physical security advice from some of the crazy. Would you recommend that I create an open Trello board and anybody can add tasks for me there? Are you interested in looking at this investment where I’m on the board?” No, it’s not fun.

advice

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. You’re not lecturing to a college class, you’re not at a cocktail party and you’re not chatting with a small group in a board meeting. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. You’re on stage!

advice

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 2, 2010

Too many entrepreneurs start out their business endeavors with an investment pitch. That’s the thing—startups in the initial stages need advice, feedback, and guidence a lot more than they need money upfront. Step one: Ask for money. That’s why participating in programs like TechStars make so much sense.

startup

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING.

consulting

TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

But dealmaking is idiosyncratic: a few investors might be content to make a deal over coffee, but early-stage teams still need a sturdy pitch deck or memo they can leave behind. I’m going to save you some time: many (if not most) of you are not yet ready to pitch an investor. Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to respond!

pitching

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it. Losing sucks.

consulting

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Board Meetings. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? Every so often I find myself caught up in a really hectic 3-4 week schedule where it seems like I float endlessly betweens meetings. Conferences.

creativity

Entrepreneur's Handbook

DECEMBER 24, 2021

Otherwise, you lose sales even before you start Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash Do not mistake the perfect pitch for the well-rehearsed (read: memorized) presentation. The cookie-cutter pitch presentation kills your sales pipeline before you actually have one. My team members call it the Pitch Perfect experience.

pitching

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

the customer on stage showing your product turns into an advocate or evangelist while the prospect is far more likely to be persuaded by a customer presentation than a salesperson’s pitch. Community-building is advice I give to nearly every startup team with whom I work. this is classic community management. And it would be?—?but

communities

TechCrunch

MARCH 6, 2021

Square buys majority of Tidal, adds Jay-Z to its board in bid to shake up the artist economy. As part of this transaction, Tidal owner Jay-Z got a board seat with Square, triggering conversations about the future of musical NFTs. Announcing the Early Stage Pitch-Off judges. 11 words and phrases to cut from your VC pitch deck.

pitching

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 3, 2016

I had served many roles previously on the BC Children’s Hospital Board, but I wanted to transition into something that engaged young entrepreneurs – and I found one. Having had a lot of experience on the Hospital Board, I knew we had to split this up into three steps: 1. Brian said, “Absolutely!”

peer-to-peer

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 6, 2020

My husband and I are also pitching a second Weird Homes Tour book with all of the cities in it. We can make different boards that represent cuts, color, up-dos and makeup and show them to our guests, or have them make their own to show us. It was a powerful moment, and he gave some great advice to us that day. What’s next?

sustainability

Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

I had served many roles previously on the BC Children’s Hospital Board, but I wanted to transition into something that engaged young entrepreneurs – and I found one. Having had a lot of experience on the Hospital Board, I knew we had to split this up into three steps: 1. Brian said, “Absolutely!”

peer-to-peer

OnStartups

MARCH 24, 2021

During the first week of that class, we all had to do a short pitch of a startup idea and convince our classmates to join our “startup”. I pitched a startup called “HubSpot”, which ended up being one of the ideas chosen. No board seats or advisory roles. Note: this is not investment advice). They require a board seat.

angel investing

Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 24, 2021

Advice for non-technical founders for finding a serious CTO for your startup Finding a co-founder is hard work. Pitch Deck Get your idea onto paper; it’s far easier to convey that way. Get the pitch right Tell a great story Startups that tell a great story get funding. Finding a technical co-founder is even harder.

founder

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

We had email, instant messaging, group calendars, discussion boards, etc. But AOL brought online services, email, chat and discussion boards to the masses and thus educated a generation that paved the way for others. 18 months ago 25% of all pitches to me were ideas for how to build products around Twitter’s API.

networking

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Given that it was a public tender the chairman of our board had encouraged us to think about launching a complaint with the UK government agency in charge of such reviews. Tags: Start-up Advice. Even Microsoft publicly said that there were security flaws with 5.5

consulting

TechCrunch

AUGUST 20, 2021

A VC shares 5 things no one told you about pitching VCs. Venrock Vice President Todd Graham has some frank advice for founders at venture-backed startups: “It would be wise to generate a return at some point.” How to establish a health tech startup advisory board. Thanks very much for reading Extra Crunch this week!

startup

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. I think it’s great for some people because it really does give you some solid benefits: board exposure / experience. Startup Advice' Alumni activities. And so forth.

investment

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. I pitched Gus twice and he told me no both times. When we were thinking of raising, he was the first I called, and after talking to Benchmark, Accel, August, and a few other tier 1 firms, it came down for me the person who was going to join the board. There are many great VCs.

VC

Ecosystem Builder Hub

AUGUST 14, 2020

What advice the initiators have for other ecosystems looking to hire a professional ecosystem builder. We knew that when her fellowship ended, we needed to bring someone on board who was solely focused on this work. Not all service providers will be on board with the initiatives. Advice for replication in other ecosystems.

development

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. Any advice or insights on how to present a strong case for an O-1A or EB-1A? The information provided in “Dear Sophie” is general information and not legal advice. Ask it here.

advice

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 3, 2020

will hand-hold you through the process of building a super savvy customer service robot, is the pitch. can still offer a compelling sales pitch to businesses with more “consultative” customer support needs, where automation will only be able to play a far more limited role. will do the same for customer service.”

support

TechCrunch

JULY 21, 2022

But when you actually go to manufacturing, the manufacturer will say, we can’t put that board on top of that, we can’t assemble it that way. How do you put it into a pitch deck? It’s not exactly advice, but it does show that it pays to strike while the iron is hot. It’s like getting married, right?

startup ecosystem

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

I'm sure each of those guys got questioned by entrepreneurs as to why they should accept advice from them as opposed to the entrepreneurial veterans of the days who worked in VC. So how can a relatively junior VC hope to add any value to an investment and on a board--and is it enough value that you should have one on your board?

VC

Startup Blogpost

OCTOBER 28, 2022

To help you determine if corporate venture capital is right for your startup, we asked startup founders, investors, and business leaders this question for their best pieces of advice. Be Sure You Have Similar Goals and Expectations. Matthew Ramirez , Founder, Paraphrase Tool. Make sure your goals and views align with CPC stakeholders.

venture capital

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk. I know because I have been the beneficiary of their advice for years and have appreciated it. All of my partners at Upfront do.

startup

TechCrunch

JULY 20, 2021

In addition to their work with individual companies, they also run founder workshops, a job board and a marketer-led syndicate. If Duolingo poses a strong debut, consumer edtech startups will be able to add a golden data point to their pitch decks,” they write. “A But if it struggles?

SaaS

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 30, 2024

Any advice on how you either kept your confidence through that time or recalibrated? I was in that pitch too, kind of a year and a half ago when I was leaving. Global Payments have really been rifle shot in terms of distribution before I came on board as CEO. And I’m really happy that in hindsight it worked out.

technology

TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

“If you believe VR and immersive computing is the future — whether for consumer or business use cases — Activision helps Microsoft build a flywheel of content and technology that gets more users on board to this future.”. Why Microsoft’s $2T+ market cap makes its $68B Activision buy a cheap bet.

VC

Angel Capital Association

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Exclusion of Demo Days from Being Considered a “General Solicitation” – Demo Days in which startups fundraising “pitch” to potential investors have long been problematic due to restrictions on “general solicitations” applicable to several of the exemptions. He is a frequent speaker and writer on blockchain legal topics.

frameworks

Startup Blogpost

DECEMBER 15, 2023

Al Lijee , CEO, TowGator Invite Critiques with Reverse Pitching A unique approach I’ve found effective in determining the viability of a new business idea is what I call “reverse pitching.” Encompassing business advice is like a lighthouse to entrepreneur ships sailing towards the rough waters of startup success.

consulting

David Teten VC

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. Most funds open data rooms to share previous reports, performance data, pitch decks, legal docs and other fundraising material with LPs.

technology

David Teten VC

DECEMBER 4, 2019

Most funds open data rooms to share previous reports, performance data, pitch decks, legal docs and other fundraising material with LPs. That said, the quick and dirty approach to using technology for better board stewardship is just to use existing file sharing systems (Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, etc.)

technology

Entrepreneur's Handbook

JULY 8, 2022

If you are a sports fan, you will have regularly heard how important it is to have a team of leaders on the pitch, not just rely on one. Internal stakeholders include other teams or board members. Successful companies have distributed leadership across the business. High performing teams have more fun!

leadership

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 24, 2021

My advice would be actually, start something and then keep drafting it. And then we do score ourselves with the board, but also with the company. ” That’s reported to the board. ” Tomasz Tunguz: Great sales pitch, please come do this. Tomasz Tunguz: Oh, interesting. Mine, I edit constantly.

leadership