Entrepreneur's Handbook

MARCH 10, 2023

Stories, Slides, and Data Primary data set of public 3-minute pitches and 2-minute Q&As I have spent more than a decade coaching thousands of people on how to tell stories. As a result, I began meticulously cataloging the pitch conversations I listened to and ended up with nearly four hundred thousand words in transcript data.

pitching 75

pitching ecology venture capital mix-use 75

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Tack on the challenges with land, bee population decline, heavy use of ecologically destructive fertilizers and pesticides and extreme food waste and this adds up to a real global challenge. . It’s hard to grow enough food to meet these needs, not to mention in a sustainable way and in a world where water is increasingly in short supply.

founder 363

founder ecology sustainability culture 363

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 27, 2010

Not only that, there’s a hugely disproportionate amount of time spent on pitching for money for these paper ideas. Step #2: Pitch investors. Teach ‘em Finance and Chase or Accenture will come and pick ‘em up 30 at a time. Most B-school pitches I see involve “Step 1, hire a tech guy to build it.”

education 291

education innovation entrepreneurship peer-to-peer 291

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

It’s often some combination of the idea not being big enough to sustain a venture exit or the company just not being appropriate for venture financing. My company was not well executed enough to achieve venture capital financing—and that wasn’t the city’s fault, it was mine. I was there, too. They’re not “dumb Wall Street money”.

startup 284

startup ecology media VC 284