Dream It

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Keep reading for some more of the most common mistakes startups make when pitching and for Steve’s tips on how to fix them. Investors want to hear, “Our unique insight is __”… in your pitch 2. VCs are judging your ability to sell If you are running a B2B company, investors know that you need to “sell” to potential early adopters.

startup founder 397

startup founder founder startup pitching 397

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 23, 2023

and then BOOM they sent you a link to an app with your whole trip, completely booked, with a map driven itinerary and a text concierge available to make last minute changes, etc. Total cost was just $5 per traveler per day and Noken took a cut of the bookings. Are the consumers not deep-pocketed enough? (And

incumbents 369

incumbents VC pitching investment 369

Startup Grind

AUGUST 15, 2018

He has worked with several startups, invested in companies like Mayvenn, Gimlet Media, Blavity, Airspace Technologies, Codeverse, and many others Pitch your startup for a chance to meet with Cross Culture VC Q&A: What is your / your fund's mission? The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho remains my favorite business book.

culture 111

culture VC pitching investment 111

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I have sat through countless pitches with Ivy League grads spewing off intellectual descriptions of the details of their product or service and why it will win in the market. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. These messages need to pass the cocktail party pitch. And I think this is a mistake.

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entrepreneurs pitching startup education 370

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

It’s sort of like having an Encyclopedic history book before just launching your product and seeing whether anybody uses it. Here’s the thing – as Michael Lewis talks about in his book, the adage of investing is that “if you’re reading about something in the papers it’s already too late.”. Part three will be published shortly.

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angel investing investment investing advice 288

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 17, 2019

One of the many great things about vacations is reading books. Vacation is the one time that I can really prioritize reading books (as opposed to everything else I read). I just finished Scott Kupor ‘s Secrets Of Sand Hill Road , a book for entrepreneurs about rasing capital from venture firms. It would be a great course.

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VC pitching venture capital entrepreneurs 209

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. In Dan Rather’s book he talks about Ruth Bader Ginsberg who was appointed the the Supreme Court in 1993.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

She told of the teaching of the Talmud – a book which scholars use to debate doctrine and from which Jewish people are reminded to always learn and to debate. In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. It is unknowable. Every situation is different.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 2, 2012

They started flipping through some books and examining designs up on the wall. At least if you and some Silicon Valley VC get inked up in one of the breakout rooms, you can get it removed more quickly than you can get out of an investment relationship. When he finished, I turned to his friend and said, "Want me to critique his pitch?"

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pitching entrepreneurs VC accelerator 290

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? One of the main co-investors was High Peaks capital and one of their team members, the uber talented Rahul Gandhi , loved the deal so much he quit his career as a VC and jumped in as a co-founder. And could we then compete?”

real estate 380

real estate ventures innovation pitching 380

Dream It

MAY 4, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin reveals the right approach on how to answer the valuation question when pitching VCs. It’s important to understand VC Math 101. The VC believes your company has a reasonable chance of achieving a certain exit valuation. Most early-stage VC’s are aiming for a 5-10x return.

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VC board pitching health 300

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

They pitched on a Wednesday. Unsurprisingly for Kara is was the VC connections. It’s something you’d imagine working best on a tablet where the parents take digital assets (think: photos & stickers) and engage with their children in story telling, arts-and-crafts, scrap-booking and the like. That’s cute.

startup 398

startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2015

Try to imagine if you *didn’t* already know Amazon and the company walking into VC meetings telling people they were going to disrupt the selling of all goods starting with books but then extending into electronics, apparel, toys and so forth. ” Let’s start with some basics.

real estate 364

real estate startup disruption incumbents 364

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

This was the example business model slide I used for my book “Pitch Perfect.” For the purposes of a funding pitch, however, it’s likely you only need a few crucial elements: COGS, or cost of goods sold, is the incremental cost for each unit you deliver. ” You can see the full template here.

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pitching VC creativity development 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA. But seriously her book is spot on.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

I want to make sure that my sixth year as a VC doesn’t just become an automatic continuation of what I’ve done in my first 5 years. I learned about this behavior and how to channel it from my favorite book about ADHD, Delivered from Distraction. Board Meetings. Conferences. I get sucked up in “Do” mode.

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creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. I have been researching this both to support Versatile VC ’s portfolio companies and also as part of research for my new book, To University and Beyond: Launch Your Career in High Gear.

founder 144

founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Who was willing to jump on a plan on a Sunday morning with a hang-over to make sure they were there the night before an important biz dev pitch on a Monday morning. Nearly any funny startup story I’ve ever told about the “early days” of startup land (and many stories I’ve saved for my book) somehow involve Stuart.

board 320

board VC construction opportunity 320

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 3, 2021

In MyEO groups, you can: • Gather a group for a poker night • Sail with EO members in the Caribbean Sea • Learn how to write and publish a book • Enjoy a whiskey-tasting tour • Learn and share industry-specific knowledge. My book, From Bad to Worse to Best in Class: A Refugee’s Success Story , was published two years ago.

education 236

education VC pitching support 236

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 12, 2011

I followed her writing and bought her AOL book back in 1999. When someone comes in to pitch me, I always ask them to tell me the "origin story". Call it simplistic and naive, but being who you are, in my book, is always a winning strategy. I even got her to come speak at Fordham while I was still in college.

data analysis 283

data analysis venture capital communities entrepreneurs 283

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. Favorite business book, blog, podcast? Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. She has a BSEE from Yale and a PhD from Stanford in math modeling of computer security. She lives with her husband, 3 kids ages 10, 8 and 6 and one spoiled dog.

VC 111

VC entrepreneurship pitching strategy 111

Dream It

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC. What’s Your Problem? direct, online, B2C, B2B).

VC 364

VC pitching founder strategy 364

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

If you''ve read Nick Bilton''s Twitter book , you saw my quick cameo. "Do Dennis and Naveen had pitched just about every investor you could think of and came up with a whopping zero term sheets. I wasn''t even at a VC fund at the time. Do you twitter?” ” he asked Fred in the e-mail. “You should check it out.

venture capital 282

venture capital ventures education pitching 282

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2023

You need a solid business plan, traction to demonstrate market fit, and the skills to pitch effectively. Don’t neglect ongoing investor relations “A lot of startup founders think that the only way investors will respond favorably is if they provide their best pitch on first contact,” said Mohammadi.

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pitching consulting advice communities 213

TechCrunch

APRIL 1, 2022

For decades, there were several blocks where angels and VC partners camped out at café tables, taking pitches between lattes. To cut through the noise, he recommends that founders create a “teaser trailer” to share with their network before they begin approaching angels and VCs. DeWitt, who became a VC after selling Drop, Inc.

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pitching energy VC founder 91

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. One thing I learned from the book is that real estate agents always sell their personal property at higher relative prices than their clients’ properties. Negotiate directly with your VC or acquirer with lawyers present in the room. What might the VC do against your interest? Recruiters.

real estate 319

real estate VC pitching entrepreneurs 319

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

It sounds obvious, but the majority of entrepreneurs who pitch me have obviously never thought through many of the major issues surrounding their companies. There are many good books on this subject, and you owe it to yourself to read at least one of them before you begin talking to angels. Understand your business.

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investment investing pitching mix-use 164

Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 20, 2020

Within it, Adil Syed, (a former Redpoint VC!), It’s not a metric one sees very often in pitch decks. The magic number answers the question: if we invest $1 in sales and marketing, how much new bookings can we generate? Rippling published their fundraising deck. But it’s another metric to add to the toolkit.

SaaS 138

SaaS pitching VC accelerator 138

TechCrunch

APRIL 9, 2021

Scale’s story starts with a pivot, and with a bit of rule-breaking, too — Wang went off the typical YC book by speaking to investors prior to demo day when Levine cold-emailed him after seeing Scale on Product Hunt. The Product Hunt spot wasn’t planned, either — Wang was as surprised to see his company there as anyone else.

VC 96

VC pitching financing finance 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. And finally a reminder: Selling is about listening & reacting and not “pitching.”

startup 319

startup consulting pitching support 319

TechCrunch

JUNE 15, 2021

Pitching is the single most important skill a founder needs to refine to be successful in building a startup. While books and talks galore have been published on pitching, the reality is that the art of the pitch deck is a constantly changing fashion. In addition to nabbing a Ph.D.

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disruption pitching health VC 88

David Teten VC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

Q: What is CISA and how does it compare to other alternative VC models? Oftentimes our investments are in companies with little revenue or traction, making them more difficult to finance from a traditional VC/angel perspective. We also have a fractional CFO that keeps our books and acts as a fund administrator.

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VC finance financing peer-to-peer 59

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Founded it as a California LLC but your potential VC wants a Delaware C-Corp? I recently wrote a post on how to get access to VCs and angels where I outlined why lawyers are such an important tool for VC introductions. I think you’ll end up with a newer lawyer who’s trying to build her book of businesses.

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startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

A typical VC might see 500 opportunities cross his or her desk every year; for larger, more prominent ones it could be 2,000. VCs therefore use whatever heuristics they can in order to triage the deal flow. A download link is sent to you automatically by Gust once you create your profile, and the book is exactly what it says.

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VC angel investing pitching entrepreneurs 159

Gust

OCTOBER 18, 2011

The Venture Capital Method (VC Method) was first described by Professor Bill Sahlman at Harvard Business School in 1987 in a case study and has been revised since. Dave’s valuation model first appeared in a book published by Harvard’s Howard Stevenson in the middle nineties and has been used by angels since.

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venture capital investment investing ventures 174

David Teten VC

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Over the past decade, I’ve (somewhat accidentally) put together on this blog a syllabus on how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund. 2) Marketing. See How Private Equity and VC Investors Are Using Social Media. See How to Judge Investment Pitches. Most of my research is also relevant to private equity. 3) Raise capital.

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VC investment investing venture capital 58

TechCrunch

AUGUST 5, 2022

Ariana Thacker, solo GP and founder, Conscience VC. Pitch Deck Teardown: Glambook’s $2.5 Pitch Deck Teardown: Glambook’s $2.5 This summer, Glambook, a booking platform that aims to become the “Uber for the beauty industry” raised $2.5 Pitch Deck Teardown: Glambook’s $2.5 million seed deck. million seed deck.

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pitching strategy culture ventures 88