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The Pre-Board Board: How to Create Accountability Before You Give Away a Board Seat

This is going to be BIG.

Typically, investors don’t take a board seat until you raise your first equity round—which means that it could be *years* before you have a real board meeting: A year of nights/weekends work researching, prototyping, and fundraising. I’ll make it simple. The structure of the meeting should follow some kind of document.

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Why AI Won't Be the Investment Opportunity Everyone Thinks It Is

This is going to be BIG.

The venture asset class seems to have already decided that AI is the next great investment opportunity, but I’m not so sure it’s going to disrupt business and create the across-the-board wealth that has been predicted. I got to see all of the top VCs pitching their funds. Technology has already made the world pretty efficient.

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The Twenty Year Itch: My Last VC Investment Out of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures

This is going to be BIG.

Sometime in the next few weeks, I’ll complete my next investment. Last August, I passed the point at which I had spent literally half my entire life working in this asset class, having started at the General Motors pension fund doing institutional investments in venture funds and late-stage directs back in February of 2001.

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How to pitch me: 5 investors discuss what they’re looking for in April 2023

TechCrunch

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!

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#DreamitLive with Ron Gula: Five Slide Pitch Deck

Dream It

In the episode, Steve asked Ron about his “five slide pitch deck.” Ron says, “The number one thing I am evaluating as a seed investor is: Will institutional investors be beating down our door to invest in this company at a higher price before these funds run out?” Read Ron’s article on his five slide pitch deck here.

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Hear how Tonkean built its impressive board of directors on TechCrunch Live

TechCrunch

A startup lives or dies by its board of directors. Chen joined Tonkean’s board of directors in 2019. The two are set to discuss the best ways for founders to work with their board of directors, including handling disagreements, preparing for fundraising events and hiring (or firing) senior management. PST / 2:30 p.m.

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8 Tips To Get the Most Out of Your Investors and Board

Both Sides of the Table

He wrote a post this long weekend on how he manages the board of DataSift. In his post he asserts, “You get the VCs you deserve” and the corollary “You get the performance out of your board that you deserve.” By spending more time educating your board on your business you get more valuable advice from them.

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