Leapfunder

JUNE 5, 2025

Sign up as investor Sign up as startup Interested in becoming an investor? VCs in our network: Get started Sign up as investor Sign up as startup Sign up as VC Invest in startups Early Bird Holedo The Netherlands Every industry has a talent pool. Return p.a.

angel investing 39

angel investing networking VC investing 39

Leapfunder

JUNE 5, 2025

Sign up as investor Sign up as startup Interested in becoming an investor? VCs in our network: Get started Sign up as investor Sign up as startup Sign up as VC Invest in startups Early Bird Holedo The Netherlands Every industry has a talent pool. Return p.a.

hospitality 39

hospitality angel investing networking VC 39

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2022

What Alan recognized was that most IRL forums and networking events are absolutely awful places to pitch and here’s why: 1) When a VC shows up in person, they’re looking to replicate the kind of top of the funnel they would get in an hour or two’s worth of e-mail, and that’s not going to happen if you corral them into a corner for 30 minutes.

VC 414

VC pitching communities creativity 414

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? People often ask me why I started blogging. GRP Partners last fund is the single best performing VC fund in the US (prequin data) for its vintage year). Absofuckinglutely.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 26, 2012

I always get asked how to get into VC and so I think a lot about what it takes to do the job well. 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. For a VC, I think the process of raising money humbles you.

VC 397

VC pitching venture capital creativity 397

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 6, 2015

He found me through my blog and I didn''t think he was real. Hunter Walk can''t be any blog commenters real name, can it? Turns out that not only is he real, but he''s one of the most genuine, thoughtful, and egoless people I''ve met in the startup world--a real breath of fresh air. I''ve known Hunter Walk for almost a decade.

VC 390

VC collaboration disruption founder 390

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

I don’t know Ezra yet but since he’s taking the time to blog (which I hugesly respect) and share thoughts I thought I’d take him up on his challenge and also spill the beans on my secrets. On blogging I blog because I love it. Mostly I’m Blogging for the Hell of It, Not Blogging to Stay Relevant.

VC 347

VC entrepreneurs creativity advice 347

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JUNE 8, 2014

I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. Changes in the Startup Ecosystem. So the startup work moves to where the startup founders live and not vice versa.

startup 392

startup communities venture capital angel capital 392

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

In his blog he says, “I responded that I thought it was stupid. Oblong, led by Kwin Kramer, which houses more MIT grads per startup than probably any other in LA. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC. My views are pretty well known. I hate Silicon Whatever. LA should be LA.”

communities 304

communities startup creativity VC 304

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

On my blog I’ve been hesitant to take the topic head on. But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? In it she observes that only 3% of the comments on this blog are from women. Please watch this.

entrepreneurs 341

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship VC pitching 341

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

Take the story of luggage startup Away’s CEO Steph Korey. Don’t get me wrong--the mental and emotional well-being of startup employees is a serious issue. In late 2018, the company raised $75 million Series C from Sequoia, arguably the top VC firm in the world. It’s male founder friendly. It probably fall somewhere in between.

coworking spaces 545

coworking spaces hospitality culture coworking 545

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. I knew him well before he became a VC. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. My guess is that many VCs are.

VC 309

VC data analysis incubation health 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. Building Startups for Basecamp. VC Industry' It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable. Lines, Not Dots.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. We spoke about the disruption of VC through crowd funding.

education 404

education disruption entrepreneurship venture capital 404

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Santa Monica is the place where the highest concentration of early-stage startups are created if you consider also the contiguous geography of Venice Beach. Startup Advice' This month we closed our 4th fund of $200 million.

ventures 343

ventures venture capital advice VC 343

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC. Nascent startup markets are like fine wine, they take time to develop. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. You have a hunch.

entrepreneurs 374

entrepreneurs incubation board VC 374

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2012

You know, because sometimes startups just simply don't make it [shrug] but you gotta watch out for those financial hucksters who are looking to take your money and run off to kick it in Fiji. 25 people I've actually placed at companies as part of a message of how I help startups. At least startups have accelerators, incubators, etc.

ventures 314

ventures incubation VC venture capital 314

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I became aware of Sam several years ago as I started noticing his name repeated in the comments section of my blog. He pinged me that he was thinking about joining a startup based in LA with the CEO in NYC and would I be willing to meet him and give him advice on this process. Sam later decided he wanted to do a startup.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

David Teten VC

MARCH 1, 2022

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to find a job as a VC scout. VC recruiters list and compensation data. How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm. Syllabus for how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund.

VC 131

VC venture capital accelerator ventures 131

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

We got along and shared stories about the startup market. Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. More like a temporary VC just to get some experience and of course we’d pay him. We got a bit of extra help on company analyses and he got to see a VC from the inside. And thank you.

collaboration 344

collaboration VC accelerator consulting 344

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. And I think about the “Seattle issue&# as a metaphor for startups and business in general. I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be.

communities 319

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 319

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Startups Are for Doers. But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking. Startups are filled with the stresses of the here and now and it’s hard to break out of this mold of focusing two feet in front of you. Board Meetings.

creativity 400

creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?)

peer-to-peer 364

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 364

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

Last night I co-hosted a dinner at Soho House in Los Angeles with some of the most senior people in the media industry with executives from Disney, Fox, Warner, media agencies and many promising tech & media startup CEO’s. Raising Capital – The VC equivalent for musicians is getting signed by a major label.

entrepreneurs 356

entrepreneurs media VC creativity 356

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

But most venture-backed startups are “still overwhelmingly white, male, Ivy-League-educated and based in Silicon Valley,” according to a study conducted by RateMyInvestor and Diversity VC. Or will we have to repeat the same conversations about representation failings within VC funds? Funding for Black entrepreneurs in the U.S.

startup ecosystem 129

startup ecosystem ventures founder startup 129

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. . On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. It’s one of my favorite blog posts. Tags: Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it. I really, really, really hate it.

consulting 334

consulting advice collaboration VC 334

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 24, 2019

How do you compete against those VC-backed behemoths in Silicon Valley? Similarly, accelerator programs like YCombinator and 500 Startups have gold-star reputations for a reason. One pattern I see in Canadian startups is that too many wait too long to think about global expansion. How do you find investors and partners abroad?

startup 162

startup entrepreneurs accelerator networking 162

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. . On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. It’s one of my favorite blog posts. Tags: Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it. It chaps my hide.

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Startup Catalyst

MARCH 27, 2018

The second Startup Community Leaders Mission to the USA took place from 11-18 March 2018, with 20 participants taking part, including 14 from 11 different regional towns in Queensland, 3 from Brisbane, one from Sydney, one from Adelaide, and one from New York (assisting the Beach City film crew). Why we run this particular mission.

communities 140

communities startup incubation accelerator 140

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 11, 2014

I''m super proud of Rob, Ben and the whole Backupify team--and this is particularly special for me because Backupify was the first investment I ever made as a VC, and the first board I ever sat on. I started reading a great blog called Business Pundit in 2004. It was written by a guy about my age down in Louisville, Kentucky.

board 274

board venture capital creativity entrepreneurship 274

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. Akshat Dixit is a senior at North Carolina State University, an intern at Versatile VC , and a past intern with the HBS Alumni Angels Association and the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Scouts help promote diversity in VC.

VC 93

VC peer-to-peer consulting board 93

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 17, 2011

I talked specifically about it in the context of raising VC / establishing credibility over on the Sales School blog where there’s a video & a transcript. Startups should flip burgers. Keep it human -Far too many presentations, keynote speeches, conference panels or blog posts seem wooden.

peer-to-peer 365

peer-to-peer leadership support construction 365

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had. Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Improving startup productivity ?

advice 408

advice frameworks startup mix-use 408

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

It’s why I always work hard to find images for my blog posts & why all of my keynote presentations are visual rather than bullet points with words. This applies equally to VCs, startups & big company executives. When I write a blog post I often see the words before I write them. So I thought I would.

creativity 356

creativity frameworks media innovation 356

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

And what’s up with this crazy new blog design? But for now … Every year we run a big VC, LP & Tech Summit in Los Angeles (this year downtown) to showcase the best of our community and invite others from around the country. I look forward to being back to blogging next week. You disappeared? I will tell more.

energy 290

energy startup creativity VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. I speak a lot on college campuses and entrepreneur events and amongst the most common things I’m asked to talk about are: What do VCs fund?

incumbents 270

incumbents entrepreneurs education pitching 270

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2015

I wanted to spend the rest of the blog post telling you why we decided to fund the company, how we settled on the final product design and our unique way of launching the app. As a VC (especially based in LA), I see hundreds of video apps. Otherwise known as a tech startup. So Why Did We Invest? Tuning product.

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investing investment media collaboration 323