Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. So the advice I’ve been giving many VCs from my experiences is that “in VC it’s important to play offense, not defense.” I don’t want any formal pitches. It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable. Lines, Not Dots. And so forth.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Two Sigma is a technology and finance company in Soho filled with incredibly bright engineers and developers, so I’m really excited about leveraging that partnership in a number of cool ways. VCs pitch for money, too. No one ever thinks about VCs having to pitch, who they pitch to, or how it works.

ventures 280

ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I love how open Danielle has been throughout the development of her startup Mattermark including honest reflections of when she has changed her opinion. 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.

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

If I had to put a number on it I’d say 1 in 20 pitches – maybe 1 in 30 – are by an entrepreneur who comes across as truly passionate about her project. These are both new journeys and I can’t wait to see how they develop. Startup Advice'

peer-to-peer 373

peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

By spending more time educating your board on your business you get more valuable advice from them. Presenting at Meetings without Going Down a Rathole (this was written for VC pitches but many lessons apply). Meeting Dynamics (also for VC pitches but also some practical tips for board meetings). Startup Advice'

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Always be Pitching (line stolen from my favorite scene in one of my all-time favorite movies. Funding is about developing a relationship over time. Neither is the norm.

VC 309

VC pitching advice venture capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

” The ultimate measure of success for a journalist is viewership so if nobody cares about your shitty little company and the story you’re trying to pitch then the journalist doesn’t want to publish. We provide strategic advice to digital media companies in a manner that reflects how corporate development is actually done.

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

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. Many years ago I worked at Andersen Consulting, originally developing software for large corporations and then as a strategy consultant. He also had experience in setting up tech development centers in India.

VC 297

VC board consulting advice 297

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. Also, this goes equally for business development. And you need to watch them pitch. Tags: Startup Advice. I learned this the hard way.&#.

startup 346

startup consulting advice construction 346

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. No one gives a shite about your features other than your product manager and your developers. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. NEVER lead with features. People say this all the time.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

So my simple advice is to start PR as early as possible (and certainly earlier than most of your investors will advise) when you have your head around your product plans and are well into execution (or ready to launch) precisely because your recruiting, seed funding and initial user base may depend on it. In a startup this is a mistake.

pitching 319

pitching media advice venture capital 319

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2012

I mean, if you don't know any developers, how you are meeting them when they build something that you can fund? Are you waiting for them to pitch you? Reading their needs and responding quickly with some firsthand experience and timely, appropriate advice--that's a fulltime job.

VC 272

VC incubation construction networking 272

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC “ There’s a great meme developing this morning on the need to simplify funding terms and documents. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice. That prompted Fred Wilson’s blog post appealing to the industry to make these simplified term sheets standard.

founder 252

founder pitching VC advice 252

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. It was a sufficient barrier and we developed social graces. Having read his latest op-ed on email I know why I erred towards the side of of not loving his book as much as some did. No, it’s not fun.

advice 250

advice board pitching startup accelerator 250

StartupNation

JULY 5, 2025

Syed Balkhi , Founder, WPBeginner Showcase Real-World Impact and Metrics When pitching to investors, especially in the early stages, it’s easy to focus solely on financials — but in today’s landscape, especially in beauty and wellness, impact is a currency of its own. If you’re pitching impact, make it real.

pitching 52

pitching advice hospitality frameworks 52

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I know you have good knowledge of how the Internet is developing and have good intuition of what drives viral adoption, what local services are needed, what API’s need to be developed, etc. Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry. Access to Deal Flow. Domain Knowledge. I don’t believe these times will last.

angel investing 288

angel investing investing investment advice 288

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 98

pitching incubation board opportunity 98

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. Not being an investor for a long time doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't have developed an investment thesis of some kind. 3) Network, network, network.

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

Startup Blogpost

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

20 Tips for Pitching New Business Ideas to Potential Investors To provide you with the best advice on pitching new business ideas to investors, we asked twenty CEOs, Founders, and other professionals for their top tips. You should highlight the potential future earnings while pitching your proposal.

pitching 105

pitching strategy investing investment 105

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

My guess is that probably only 2-3 out of every hundred pitches I receive are from women. Heck, you can launch your company if you’re a developer for $50,000. The latest entrepreneur who has been pitching me, Shahed Khan , is only 16! But then the truth sets in. This certainly isn’t anything conscious on my side.

entrepreneurs 341

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship VC pitching 341

Ecosystem Builder Hub

AUGUST 14, 2020

As with any movement, there comes a day when grand visions need to either remain that, or be executed on so that they may evolve to the next stage of development and maturation. What advice the initiators have for other ecosystems looking to hire a professional ecosystem builder. What success looks like in this three-year pilot.

development 119

development entrepreneurial ecosystem entrepreneurship communities 119

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

Everyone is a rock star developers, every company is crushing it and when they’re not crushing it they’re killing it. There are too many pulls & tugs at our elbows for time, for coffee meetings, for advice or speaking engagements or cocktail parties or dinners. My general advice is to do less.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

You help them on stories, act as a source, develop real relationships, read their stories and eventually when you have news they’re more willing to have a conversation. They don’t have enough billable hours to be able to really understand what you do or effectively pitch it. In a startup this is a mistake.

startup 349

startup pitching advice consulting 349

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. Or “I’m a new entrepreneur, why would I offer advice on how to run a startup?&#. People often ask me why I started blogging.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2010

Quite honestly I see way too many company pitches that are designed for Techies but I only want to invest in products designed for Normals. I think so many Silicon Valley firms skip this step because when you’re a developer your core competence is building product and not thinking about markets. Zero thought = flying blind.

advice 348

advice entrepreneurs sustainability pitching 348

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

You’ve got to be able to come out of unsuccessful VC meetings, pull your socks up, and go into the next pitch. We were strong in the UK and they were strong in Germany and Israel (where they had a development office). I had developed a great relationship with the CEO whom I still admire (he left many years ago).

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs advice VC SaaS 298

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Mentors are immensely helpful, but they’re not a requirement: We run articles regularly that explain how to create pitch decks and reach out to investors. I surveyed six seed- and early-stage investors to get their tactical advice for laid-off tech workers who are thinking about starting up. “IP is important to us.

advice 91

advice pitching startup ventures 91

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. . They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I hate it.

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

So my advice to many is to study online companies that understand how to use technology for audience development, engagement, viral distribution and subscriptions. 90% of the online video businesses that pitch me do none of these things. Usually I tell them to study Upworthy & Buzzfeed. Here is an example.

advice 322

advice education pitching technology 322

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

This is a fantastic time to found a startup, but unless you plan to bootstrap it, you will still need to go through the laborious exercise of crafting a pitch deck. According to Jose Cayasso, CEO and co-founder of pitch deck design agency Slidebean, there are five slides where pretty much all founders miss the mark : Go-to-market.

pitching 85

pitching accelerator frameworks advice 85

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.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

When they promise to help you with marketing, sales, distribution, integrated product development, etc. It’s true that many VCs over promise how helpful they’ll be with introductions / strategic advice / recruiting, etc. it sure is tempting. And they probably have every intent of helping you. Most VCs aren’t either?

advice 279

advice venture capital frameworks VC 279

Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 13, 2022

A Very Honest Guide to Writing Your Fundraise Pitch Deck How to optimise yours for success Congratulations! You know you need a pitch deck to do this and so fire up your slide software of choice and crack your knuckles, ready to wow. I often see pitch decks positioning themselves as a Seed raise but realistically are at Pre-Seed.

pitching 79

pitching advice accelerator investing 79

Dream It

APRIL 3, 2020

Do you have a track record that proves you’re a credible source of advice on this issue? Develop a unique point of view on the problem Your team must prove that they have a unique and valuable view on this problem. However, these executives usually have multiple lines of defense to shield them from sales pitches.

pitching 221

pitching strategy advice board 221

TechCrunch

AUGUST 27, 2021

Korea Pavilion Pitch Session – Hosted by KOTRA. John Felts of Cruz Foam will discuss the development of bio-benign, compostable alternative materials. Buy one here and check out the breakout sessions for trends, advice and opportunities to help grow your business. Brought to you by Samsung Next. Don’t have your pass yet?

disruption 100

disruption advice leadership energy 100

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. . They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it.

consulting 333

consulting advice collaboration VC 333

TechCrunch

APRIL 29, 2022

We also discussed several specific tactics and strategies that can help move organizations towards PMF, including effective ways to capture and share user data, and developing customer personas that will help everyone understand the company’s mission and purpose. Pitch deck teardown: Minut. Pitch Deck Teardown: Minut.

pitching 84

pitching transportation accelerator consulting 84