Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

If you haven’t yet heard about Female Founder Office Hours it is an initiative you should be aware of whether you’re male, female or any other gender identify. For the LA event, for example, they will not only have a selection of great LA VCs but also 10+ senior VC women from the SF Bay Area will be coming down for it.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer mentorship VC 256

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Demo days at startup accelerators are a pretty big deal around here. These events aren’t just a chance to review the latest cohort of hopeful entrepreneurs — they also showcase the technology, products and services that will compete for VC and consumer attention over the next few years. That startup was DoorDash, by the way.

SaaS 113

SaaS startup pitching education 113

TechCrunch

MAY 26, 2022

TechCrunch has been covering the demo days of the seed-stage venture firm Pear VC since 2015. And the energy in the room reflects that of Pear’s founders, Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson, who year after year project the cheery demeanor of people eager to win you over. Pear lets the founders choose the check size.

pitching 72

pitching health SaaS accelerator 72

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2023

Even as Y Combinator reveals the latest startups in its cohort for this winter , we have poor news for founders: the global venture capital market shrank in Q1 2023, and it would have been even worse if it were not for a few mega deals, according to Crunchbase (disclosure: my former employer) and PitchBook reports.

VC 100

VC venture capital collaboration ventures 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Don’t even get me started on Demo Days. You could spent 20 days / year at Demo Days now. I told my friend that I felt that in 2014 too many new VCs feel the pressure to chase deals, to be a part of syndicates with other brand names and to pounce on top of every startup whose numbers are trending up quickly.

VC 374

VC investing investment entrepreneurs 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. This is where most founders err. Same with VC.

VC 332

VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Magic’s CEO and co-founder, Eric Steinberger, says that he was inspired by the potential of AI at a young age. But absent a demo, we have only his word to go on. Despite securing millions in VC backing, Kite struggled to pay the bills, running into headwinds that made finding a product-market fit impossible.

VC 98

VC development enablement education 98

500

JUNE 9, 2020

Supply chains have been disrupted, businesses have had to close or operate at limited capacity for months, and even founders have had to expand their fundraising timeframes as we saw in our 2020 Female Founders Data Report. As a VC firm, we’ve had to adapt many aspects of our business as well.

frameworks 202

frameworks investing investment disruption 202

TechCrunch

AUGUST 18, 2023

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription “Starting a tech company today costs 99% less than it did 18 years ago when Y Combinator was started,” says Brett Calhoun, managing director and general partner at Redbud VC.

VC 81

VC frameworks mix-use pitching 81

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? It''s also not the best way to create a helpful syndicate of investors that share the founder''s vision for the company. If all my deals came as intros from trusted connections that I know for years versus at founder pitch events that''s interesting data.

VC 406

VC pitching networking venture capital 406

TechCrunch

JUNE 7, 2022

This event draws an incredible mix of Silicon Valley’s startup community, including over 40 VC firms so far — a who’s who of founders, investors, tech makers and movers and shakers. A quick reminder that if you have an early-stage startup, it’s not too late to buy a Summer Party demo table. Ticket price: $75.

peer-to-peer 78

peer-to-peer VC venture capital disruption 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can.

VC 347

VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Repeat founders who have a proven track record, good references, and in the best cases, an exit to point to will have an easy time making inroads with venture capitalists. Earlier this week, for example, the former founders of Udemy and altMBA raised more than $4 million for a startup with no name or final product.

founder 83

founder VC ventures investing 83

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name.

VC 274

VC venture capital pitching capital 274

TechCrunch

APRIL 9, 2021

CEO and co-founder Alex Wang credits their success since founding, which includes raising over $277 million and achieving break-even status in terms of revenue, to early support from investors including Accel’s Dan Levine. 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

Y Combinator

AUGUST 23, 2023

Almost all of those companies raised their first rounds from investors that saw them debut at YC Demo Day. YC is undeniably an integral part of the venture capital ecosystem, helping to shine the first spotlight on many of the companies that go on to be featured high up in a huge font on the top VC portfolio pages.

venture capital 73

venture capital VC enablement capital 73

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

AM: We went to a builders community we’d built the year before, and to [Stanford’s] engineering school [where I teach], and to the CS department at a number of universities and said, ‘Hey, if you’re interested in being a future founder, and you’re a great builder, then we are interested in talking to you.’

VC 96

VC networking incubation investing 96

Y Combinator

MARCH 15, 2024

When I joined YC in 2014, I thought I was transitioning from the management role I had as a startup founder to a job where most of my time would be spent doing office hours with YC founders.  After investing in over 800 companies I have much more perspective on how to select and help founders.  I

leadership 106

leadership advice VC accelerator 106

David Teten VC

AUGUST 20, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. In addition, their portfolios look far more diverse than VC industry norms. Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs?

founder 74

founder investing investment venture capital 74

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

TechCrunch

APRIL 7, 2022

It’s a two-day deep dive featuring the best, brightest and most intriguing founders, engineers, investors, regulators and technologists dedicated to transforming the way we move people and packages around the globe. Line up live or online meetings with founders, pitch investors, connect with hiring managers or meet up with other students.

transportation 81

transportation collaboration pitching networking 81

TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2022

Even to outsiders, the inner workings of startup accelerators has become familiar: pumped up on camaraderie and energy drinks, scrappy founders do product demos onstage before a room full of buzzy journalists and investors. Let’s start with a juicy topic: pro rata.

startup accelerator 92

startup accelerator accelerator startup energy 92

Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 19, 2015

I’ve been to many YC Demo Days and I always look forward to them. This trend opposes the broader VC market’s investment patterns. Startups pursuing consumer finance have popped recently, not driven by Bitcoin, but by a wave of founders bringing more sophisticated financial tools to the masses.

real estate 40

real estate startup data analysis construction 40

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

Aditi Shekar, the co-founder, gave me some notes about why the ongoing popularity of Venmo is validation for the company, instead of competition. In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about the new career path to CEO, our favorite startups from Techstars Demo Day and the latest SPAC you should probably know about. techcrunch.com.

startup 127

startup financing finance creativity 127

TechCrunch

MAY 14, 2021

When you’re head-down and nose to the grindstone — I’m looking at all you hard-working early-stage startup founders — it’s easy to miss a deadline for an outstanding opportunity. You’ll also be ready to deftly handle all the questions you’ll receive from our expert VC judges. 11 words and phrases to cut from your VC pitch deck.

disruption 77

disruption startup pitching VC 77

TechCrunch

MAY 10, 2021

Founders from these three startups took a chance, gave it their all and ended up winning the championship — and $100,000 — in their respective years: Canix (2020), Render (2019) and Forethought (2018). training with the TC Battlefield team to make sure they’re primed and ready to face a panel of expert VC judges. Still need a nudge?

disruption 77

disruption startup pitching VC 77

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 2, 2015

One time, I spoke at a meetup that was divided into my talk and demos--and the organizer assumed I wanted to go on before the demos. I didn''t understand why it would matter, but she told me that most of the investors like going before so they could skip out after the demos and not get bombared at the end of the event.

pitching 313

pitching peer-to-peer venture capital creativity 313

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 2, 2022

A multibillion dollar acquisition , IPO projections and some good ol’ VC and billionaire drama? This week, we’re following up on our conversation about accelerator and demo days with a look at how 500 Global, formerly 500 Startups, thinks about it. That change has really resonated with founders,” Bryan said. A few notes.

startup 79

startup disruption accelerator VC 79

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). Demo’d to death. We’ve all been demo-day’d to death. Yeah, he was LA, baby! Quality endures.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Startups and VC. Denver-based VC firm SpringTime Ventures is pivoting away from its original focus on its home state of Colorado, despite being the only local fund in two of the state’s 10 unicorn companies, Becca reports. ” New crypto startups forged ahead during Alliance DAO’s demo day on Wednesday amid the FTX implosion.

capital 99

capital investing investment pitching 99

TechCrunch

APRIL 5, 2023

.” Levitt and Pager co-founded Coast , a platform that enables a sales team to demo its company’s APIs via a dashboard that executes live requests visually and in the browser. Certainly, there’s other software demoing platforms on the market — many with substantial VC backing. It’s raised $2.1

SaaS 75

SaaS enablement development VC 75

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Selected from the most competitive batch in TC history, selected founders from across the globe will pitch on the virtual stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021. It’s apparent that this next wave of founders are very much focused on building unicorns and also building deeply impactful technologies.

disruption 100

disruption pitching startup culture 100

TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2022

It will be all hands on deck today and tomorrow as we listen to startups pitch at the YC Demo Day, so look out for a deluge of stories over the next two days. Startups and VC. YC’s Demo Day showed off 32 startups from India (the accelerator has funded almost 200 Indian startups to date), with heavy focus on fintech.

transportation 84

transportation startup ecosystem pitching VC 84

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. It’s a Demo Day thing.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

TechCrunch

APRIL 7, 2023

Startups and VC Everyone needs some good competition to get the creativity flowing. Wrapping up the week, as mentioned yesterday, there was a group of us watching Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 Demo Day. In a galaxy far, far away : If you’re a Star Wars fan, Disney+ will debut a new series called “The Acolyte” in 2024.

media 98

media VC creativity sustainability 98

TechCrunch

APRIL 8, 2023

As The TechCrunch team sat through hundreds of startup pitches during YC’s biannual Demo Day, the backdrop of change was certainly noted. It’s a conversation that bubbles up around Demo Day time and time again, but given the downturn, some expected to see valuations that they think are more realistic for businesses only a few months old.

pitching 71

pitching VC construction startup 71

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

You’ll hear from iconic founders, unicorn makers, boundary-benders — all of it served up with a gigantic side of DIY tips, actionable advice, encouragement and inspiration. Visit their virtual booths, get a product demo and start a conversation. You can also catch Startup Alley founders pitching to TechCrunch staff.

disruption 85

disruption opportunity pitching advice 85