The Seraf Compass

JUNE 19, 2024

We sent out a survey to our Seraf Compass subscribers to ask for tips and advice for first-time entrepreneurs. We asked the question: "What advice do you have for entrepreneurs seeking angel investment and how can they best prepare for pitching investors?” Here are some answers we found to be helpful!

angel investing 279

angel investing entrepreneurs investing investment 279

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. 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. And effective immediately Jordan will have the authority to make investments.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely. We hear startups pitch everyday and far too often founders end up joining the meeting late.

pitching 285

pitching advice health founder 285

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

What Cham rarely tells people – he’s both private and humble – is that he started making some small co-investments with me in tech firms starting with Maker Studios where he was one of the earliest investors. We started hanging out a bit and discussing technology and entrepreneurship. They make a great pair.

ventures 420

ventures pitching entrepreneurship advice 420

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund. But I loved his hustle.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Sure, you need to learn what the common theme of the no’s are and be willing to make adjustments to your pitch. the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. So you might hear 9–10 “no’s” in the early stretches of your fund raising process. It is CRITICAL that you not let this get inside your head. Confidence sells 10.

advice 236

advice VC entrepreneurs SaaS 236

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

” I found myself nodding through all of it with quotes like, “Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley,” said Sam Altman. 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

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 26, 2012

I'm way early in my career, so I won't say I've perfected anything yet, but after 8 years on the investing side and 3 in startups, I've come up at least one thing: Be open. I want your pitch to be the one I say yes to--and I want you to solve the inherent problems in your business model. Take pitches? You know how hard it is.

VC 371

VC pitching venture capital creativity 371

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

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. I have placed a much bigger emphasis on falling in love as a criterion for my making an investment. Does your investor eat, sleep, breath your industry or product?

peer-to-peer 373

peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

Dream It

DECEMBER 10, 2020

In this guest Dreamit Dose, Jason Calacanis (@jason), a technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and the host of the popular podcasts This Week in Startups and Angel, answers the top 5 questions he gets about angel investing. Jason says, “Investing is about the long game.” We hope we could answer your questions about angel investing.

angel investing 221

angel investing investing investment networking 221

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

You may feel as I did in 1999 that the more smart people around the table the more intros you’ll have, the more sage advice you’ll receive and the more impressive you’ll seem to outsiders. So why else would they invest if not as an option to re-up in the next round? You simply can’t drive good returns that way.

VC 314

VC advice pitching investing 314

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. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Startup Advice' What Rob wrote in his post is right.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

The funding was anchored by a major commitment from Two Sigma Ventures, the private venture investment affiliate of Two Sigma Investments. The company makes direct and indirect investments across a broad spectrum of asset classes. VCs pitch for money, too. It's the black box of the startup world.

ventures 280

ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2021

If they thought there was a 100% chance you’ll do what you say you are going to do, they’d invest now while the shares are cheap. The ecosystem is full of bad advice from founders that couldn’t raise. I see this all the time—two founders pitching the same thing, one gets funded, one doesn’t. You pitched a jerk.

founder 317

founder pitching VC advice 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

In the past I’ve given some tips for handling meetings effectively, covering topics like: - How not to let your meeting go down a rat hole ; - Dealing with the elephant in the room ; - Dealing with skeletons in your closet ; - How to make meetings discussions, not “pitches&#. - Tactical advice for meetings.

pitching 392

pitching advice culture VC 392

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 5, 2012

Most conversations don't end in funding or even a follow up meeting, so your aim should be to get specific, helpful advice that moves you forward. What is it about me that makes you want to pitch me? 5) Aim for me to hear about you before you pitch. Ask me those, or did you just want me to toss up a big "9.5" Getting quoted?

VC 319

VC pitching disruption advice 319

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. They are an investment bank that targets the technology & media sectors. Think about Luma Partners.

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

” Most VCs view it as their responsibility to mentor, debate, cajole and generally assist with investments they make. Tomorrow I’m meeting with a senior exec who is considering joining a company in which we’ve invested. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage.

VC 365

VC board communities pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes. They are venture bankers not investment bankers. They know how to build pitch decks.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

There is one source that was always problematic for me – intros from investment bankers. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes. They are venture bankers not investment bankers. They know how to build pitch decks.

VC 347

VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

However, it’s a terrible way to get your whole pitch in. There’s just not enough time to convince someone to invest and have a productive back and forth. If the person says no, you could ask them for suggestions on who you should talk to, or ask them their best piece of fundraising advice, or frankly, just give them their time back.

pitching 247

pitching SaaS advice accelerator 247

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 19, 2024

My first pitch was not to investors or potential clients; it was to my fiancée, convincing her to delay our wedding plans until Equifund was up and running — a promise that took significantly longer than the anticipated six months to fulfill. I was not licensed, did not have a college degree, could not code.

financing 255

financing finance entrepreneurship mentorship 255

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

To be clear, it wasn't really a deal that I "had", but there was a company that our team at First Round got excited about and offered an investment to. The company didn't offer us the opportunity to invest--and I take the responsibility for not being able to get us in. Josh gave me great advice.

pitching 321

pitching venture capital advice entrepreneurs 321

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

For all the things he’s likely known for, he probably hasn’t yet built a strong relationship as an early stage venture investor (he invests often in later-stage deals where he is very respected). “… for any good investment, from Series A on, there is at least one firm to compete with. Startup Advice'

advice 333

advice VC pitching investing 333

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

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. I offer the same advice for many of my friends who are newer VCs. The best of the best in our industry are feeling it, too. Easier said than done.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. My constituencies were broad and I felt like going deep into one single area would have bored large groups of the people on any topic I picked. People say this all the time.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

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. So if you want some real-world, non-Wharton advice it’s this: Practice writing great email titles that are compelling and personal and grab the attention from the person with whom you want an answer: “Important!

advice 250

advice board pitching startup accelerator 250

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. I do it myself.

pitching 319

pitching media advice venture capital 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” If you swing at every pitch you’ll end up with a lot more losers. MANY create consumer apps pitch me.

investing 214

investing investment VC pitching 214

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2012

Are you waiting for them to pitch you? I suppose it doesn't really matter much when it seems like most of the money that wants to invest in startups when they need it most--in a seed round--doesn't really want to be that active. Having a single person in a round who can do that is going to help the company tremendously.

VC 272

VC incubation construction networking 272

OnStartups

MARCH 24, 2021

An Odd Start To My Angel Investing. So I thought of an idea: Why not invest in startups? Angel investing is like having a niece or nephew. 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”. Best laid plans and all that. Not so fast.

angel investing 125

angel investing investing investment pitching 125

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 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. Actually, I think the advice in this post applies to any sales meeting also. I know it’s incredibly important to me in my investment decisions. We traveled the country last year meeting with people who invest in VC funds to get to know them better.

VC 296

VC advice pitching investing 296

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

VC’s keep different titles but the most common that I’ve come across that are investment professionals are (in ascending order of seniority): analyst, associate, principal and partner. This lesson on NINAs applies to VC pitches as well as any sale. And get advice from them on how to best manage the approval process.

VC 308

VC pitching entrepreneurs advice 308