TechCrunch

MAY 21, 2022

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh, human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. You can often pick up significant market share in an economic downturn by just staying alive,” top startup accelerator Y Combinator wrote in an internal e-mail to its founders this week. How quickly are startup layoffs accelerating?

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week. In this week’s edition, we share: Reasons why startups fail (and how to fix it) What it’s really like to have your startup fall apart The Elon takeover in tweets Let’s do this. Close to 90% of startups fail.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

In our latest Securetech newsletter, we gave you a list of the top 5 doses of 2020, specifically for security startups. How to Get a CISO to Buy Your Product Security startups need to know these 5 pro tips on how to sell a CISO. 5 CISO Objections that KILL Security Startups On the other hand, why wouldn't a CISO buy your product?

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AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Register Startups looking at going global should first establish proof of local traction before doing so, John Lim , Partner at Meet Ventures , said in an interview with AsiaTechDaily. Meet Ventures is a consultancy firm that specialises in running startup accelerators and market access programs. Healthy revenue figures.

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NZ Entrepreneur

DECEMBER 10, 2020

It’s been growth ever since, and in 2020 the company pitched for funding to scale up. The fund raise required three in-person pitches, seven Zoom pitches and 30 Zoom calls before closing successfully in August. Successful pitches help your confidence snowball. A live demo of the product is essential.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Snippets of advice, tactics, and tools I used to raise an oversubscribed round during an economic downturn Image: Author I’m writing this blog post on the heels of closing our oversubscribed round during what’s been described as the worst time in history to raise capital. Let’s start with the tools we used at Supademo: Canva and Journey.io

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Gust

AUGUST 19, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short – maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same. Give the “elevator pitch” for your startup.

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David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

Note we are not including here most of the freebies offered by corporates for founders in general (as opposed to students in particular), which we list in Free Money from the Global 500 for Tech Startups. For a more detailed list for founders in general, not just students, see Startup contests and Startup grants.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 31, 2023

Because it takes “about 15 touches for a prospect to want to see a demo,” Tong authored a TC+ guide for CEOs who need guidance around hiring and incentivizing SDR teams. “Pipeline generation at early-stage companies is expensive and time consuming, often more so than the sales process itself. .”

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I think my mentality to banker pitches was best summed up in this article about Y Combinator in which Paul Graham apparently made the following quotes. The other quote from the article is this: “The other thing they say is that they can’t tell on Demo Day which are the good start-ups. It’s a Demo Day thing. With pleasure.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. When you’re an early-stage startup that hasn’t raised any institutional money you end up doing almost every job function of the company yourself. When I founded my first company along with Brian Moran (whose idea it was) I had no real experience running startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. And even this can’t stop their employees from fleeing after two years of vesting to move on to the next hot startup. Easier said than done.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). We have witnessed one hell of a startup boom from 2009-2014 which has coincided with the boom in accelerators. Quality endures.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I think the issue I have always had with investment bank pitches was best summed up in this article about Y Combinator in which Paul Graham apparently made the following quotes. But I think there is a down side that I see in startups that raise artificially at prices above what a normal market might value. It’s a Demo Day thing.

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Y Combinator

DECEMBER 9, 2020

Meeting startups at the very start of their journey is one of my favorite parts about working at YC. By the time a company is successful enough to IPO, the many doubts and uncertainties of the early stage startup are largely forgotten, replaced with a hindsight that makes their path to success seem so much more obvious and predictable.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 8, 2023

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on this week’s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and Equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. As The TechCrunch team sat through hundreds of startup pitches during YC’s biannual Demo Day, the backdrop of change was certainly noted.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 18, 2023

In his latest TC+ column, growth marketer Jonathan Martinez describes the process he used to lead his last startup from zero to $1 million ARR in Year One. “I Guest columns fall into two categories: TechCrunch+: Strategies and tactics for building and scaling startups.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 13, 2021

You want to make the most of your time at this one-day virtual intensive featuring interactive presentations with the mobility industry’s top movers, shakers and startup dream makers, amirite? Schedule virtual product demos, pitch investors or recruit new talent. Take your team to increase your ROI.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. If you demo your product (which is always great) then tell us part of the story while you’re demo’ing. Also, asking is not appropriate at a marquee conferences like TechCrunch50, DEMO, Twiistup and the like. NEVER lead with features.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

Detail Orientation / Hands On – One of the easiest ways to rule out people who are pitching to me is when they don’t know the details of their business. I once had a startup team pitch me for an investment where the President of the company led the first call with me on his own. There are easy tell-tale signs.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Her post is short & well written so definitely worth a read if you’re a startup person and want to hear some sensible views on sales. Erin’s main points: “As a former tech sales executive, I agree with many of [Mark's] lessons — when applied to later-stage, post-traction point startups.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 19, 2022

You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week! Here’s his advice so you can do the same: Don’t rush as it’s a waste of time to generate buzz if your landing page isn’t perfectly optimized. Use the first comment on the ProductHunt page as your elevator pitch. Here’s a sneak peek ??.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Today, our itch gets scratched: Spinach shared its pitch deck with TechCrunch for a closer look. We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here’s how you can do that. The team says it submitted the deck exactly as it was used in its investor pitches.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. It included some well known firms that made me come for a team pitch and then only gave me literally 15 minutes when we’d scheduled an hour. My blog was wiped out.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product. I need something structured like slides or a demo to orient me. Act III – The Demo.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

a really wide angle view of the tech industry since you see so many concepts / so many pitches and REAL data points on how startups perform financially. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. Startup Advice' inside insight into VC decision-making. Congratulations, Jordan.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2023

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on this week’s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and Equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. Sequoia injects $195 million into an ever-eager seed environment Women-founded startups raised 1.9% Amazing advice for anyone who is a student or just … new.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1. Imagine the “typical&# deal – somebody comes into a VC’s office, they’ve never met, they’re highly referred by a friend and they’re pitching a product demo and a PPT. That’s OK, too.

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Angel Capital Association

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

By: Dror Futter, Legal and Business Adviser to Startups, Venture Capital Firms and Technology Companies The SEC announced a series of amendments (likely to be effective early next year) to the rules governing private offering exemptions – by far the most frequent path for venture fundraising.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Too many startup execs place too much emphasis on the big stage launch. I’ve heard many startup CEO’s (and VCs!) Robert Scoble interviewed me in 2006 about my startup, Koral.

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Y Combinator

JUNE 15, 2023

What are you aiming to say with your startup’s website, and what’s actually coming through? In this episode of Design Review , YC Group Partner Aaron Epstein is joined by YC President and CEO Garry Tan to take a closer look at what’s working (and what’s not) on the websites of five different AI startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2013

In my post I noted the bias in his accent comments and also called b t on his statements that Demo Days are great because “the bad companies look good” and that VCs should compete to “pay the highest price & offer the best terms.” Startup Advice' They know how much opportunity we afford them.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I’m comfortable with introductions and then getting into the demo.&#. I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Just jump into the demo after intros.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

This is part of my blog series “ Pitching a VC.&#. I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Rarer still is the startup CEO who can make the transition effectively on their own. Unwillingness to devolve power is the bane of many management teams at startup companies. I see the problem directly at many startups I know. A good demo tells a story. 80% of demos I see are features, functions & benefits.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

OCTOBER 29, 2021

With consumer mobile-focused startups, the best idea is to build an audience first and then build a business. There’s an old adage that says, “ask for money and you’ll get advice; ask for advice and you might get money.” Those are three powerful things that not all startup founders are thinking about, but they really should be.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. I’ve tried to make this advice as well-rounded and biased free as I can. Spend time researching your buyers and not just pitching them. Trust doesn’t come from one 45-minute Powerpoint pitch or 30-minute demo. Meet in person.

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