Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” This is a red flag for VCs.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 19, 2021

Kunal Lunawat is the co-founder and managing partner of Agya Ventures , a venture capital firm focused on proptech, travel, hospitality and the future of the built world. 5 factors founders must consider before choosing their VC. Share on Twitter. More posts by this contributor.

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StartupNation

AUGUST 8, 2021

But financing isn’t always easy — especially if you’re the proud founder of a brand new business. You still have plenty of creative financing options to fund your business. You’ll need to think outside the box, but you’re bound to come across your “aha” financing moment in this article. Bootstrapping.

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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.

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David Teten VC

APRIL 1, 2021

I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? . Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

MARCH 30, 2023

Why You Can’t Raise VC Money Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash Many entrepreneurs have experienced the keen sting of rejection when venture capital firms refuse to invest in or otherwise respond to their exciting new startups. My realization occured when I perceived that VCs may not actually value what they say they value.

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Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Sheffield, the Founder & Managing Partner of Pachamama Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in US early-stage climate tech companies. She is also a Finance Director at Visa and has previously worked for PepsiCo and American Airlines. How did you break into tech investing?

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David Teten VC

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund, Versatile Venture Capital , was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. . I’m very interested in the tech stack of private equity/VC firms , both to improve the efficiency of Versatile VC and also as a focus area for our investing.

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Smart Hustle Magazine

JULY 17, 2019

The number one challenge women face is a significant disadvantage in securing access to venture capital funding compared to their male peers. of all venture capital in the US went to companies founded solely by women. Find the Right Investors - don’t throw your pitch to just anybody. Bank financing.

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TechCrunch

JULY 7, 2022

We’re facing a pretty big climate change challenge, and I’ve long been skeptical about whether venture capital can be as big a part of the solution as it seems to think it is. Today, I’m delighted to present the deck the company used to raise its financing. Appendix — Sample VC partners slide.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

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. Similarly, one VC may encourage newly minted CEOs to eat ramen and ride the bus, while another might suggest a salary in the low six-figures, depending on geography.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 19, 2022

“Venture capital” is semantically equivalent to “dangerous money,” which is part of its mystique. Essentially, VC is a high-stakes extreme sport in which top players can accumulate startling amounts of wealth and power. But where does all that money actually come from, and how do VCs actually make money?

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David Teten VC

APRIL 1, 2021

I’ve recently advised a number of emerging private equity and VC funds who are wrestling with the question: What are the highest impact steps they can take to support their portfolio companies? . Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies.

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StartupNation

MAY 24, 2021

While the pandemic has certainly had an impact on the startup space, speculations were off about one thing: venture capital. It didn’t dry up: Venture investors poured $150 billion into North American companies in 2020, up about 7% from 2019 levels. Part of this could be the result of the pitch. Most now occur online.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. They often ask whether they have to move to SF, NY or LA to get financed. It would be easier in terms of getting access to angels, VCs, the media, whatever. It’s a goal to help you understand the life of a VC.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

DECEMBER 13, 2020

On the fundraising side of things, there is no milestone more validating for a young company than securing your Series A financing. Know What to Expect When a VC Opens your Deck (and their Checkbook) As Series A companies are more mature than in previous rounds, Series A decks are longer at 25 slides.

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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. 1) Your school.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. My blog was wiped out. And covered we did.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

The VC fund provided the company with seed capital and office space. TechCrunch Live is all about helping startups build better venture-backed businesses. Founders and the investors who finance them sit down to talk about how they met, what kept them interested in one another and, ultimately, how they sealed the deal.

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David Teten VC

AUGUST 21, 2019

Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 29, 2021

Benoit Wirz , partner, Brighteye Ventures (an active edtech-focused venture capital fund in Europe that backs YouSchool, Lightneer and Aula). Charles Birnbaum , partner, Bessemer Venture Partners (a generalist fund with portfolio companies including Guild Education and Brightwheel). Jerry Lu , senior associate, Maveron.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 14, 2023

“These deals were traditionally harder to track than primary venture capital deals, as they don’t generally get announced, but a new fleet of startups is shining light on them,” such as Caplight, Notice, Birel and Hive Markets. “It was really hard to figure out what was going on.”

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TechCrunch

JULY 19, 2022

If your company is too nascent to be valued, convertible notes might be a viable way to secure early financing. ” However, notes can also create risk, like setting valuation caps too low, failing to raise enough capital or other poor planning that can hand investors more equity than you intended. Walter Thompson.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. 2021 was a year like no other when it came to venture investment, and this year is poised to tread a similar path, writes 500 Global’s CEO and co-founder, Christine Tsai. “All 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 9, 2022

The VC fund provided the company with seed capital and office space. TechCrunch Live is all about helping startups build better venture-backed businesses. Founders and the investors who finance them sit down to talk about how they met, what kept them interested in one another and, ultimately, how they sealed the deal.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

I’m a straight white dude who grew up in NYC and worked in finance. I’m the on-paper poster child for “who can get VC dollars”. Will the money have been worth it if you find yourself out on the street, fired from your own company, just a few years later—replaced by some guy that was in the same fraternity as your lead VC?

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

If you want to raise venture capital more easily the advice could be quite practical and counter-intuitive. Many companies that are raising B or C venture capital rounds right now raised their initial money in 2005-2008. Not so VC. It is 2010. So what happens? This doesn’t suit anybody.

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TechCrunch

MAY 3, 2022

“They are the strongest company in the segment and well financed in this growing market,” said Forrester analyst Craig Le Clair. Pitch deck pro tips from a leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist. ” Pitch deck pro tips from a leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 9, 2021

participated in four of Scale’s financing rounds, which is all of them unless you include the funding from YC the company secured as part of a cohort in 2016. But Levine saw the kernel of something with huge potential, and despite being a relative unknown in VC at the time, didn’t want to let the opportunity pass him, or Wang, by.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JUNE 17, 2019

Scott makes the point numerous times in the book that the capital raising process is asymmetric for entrepreneurs in that they do it a few times in their career and VCs do it every day. That is true for the pitch meetings, the negotiation process, and the post financing relationship too. It would be a great course.

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. There has been little movement in the amount of VC dollars going to women-founded companies since 2012. VC funds must look at ways they can bring in more women decision-makers, all the way up to the top.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Go pitch a VC with an idea, and they''ll tell you to build it. Finance is changing. Venture Capital & Technology' Go to them with a prototype and they''ll tell you to launch it. Launch it, and they''ll tell you to get more users. Get users and they''ll tell you to get paying customers. TVs are changing.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. They know how to build pitch decks. They know the VCs so they know what interests them. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage? What price?

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TechCrunch

MARCH 23, 2021

Our newest report on the state of pre-seed fundraising shows that investors became laser-focused on sections of the pitch deck that address monetization and business viability — signs that founders need to come to the table with better-defined businesses in order to succeed. Do not pass go — VCs insist pitch decks meet 3 key criteria.

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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.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 10, 2023

The crypto venture capital industry has become more selective thanks to the general market downturn and wavering trust caused by a slew of scandals and market disruptions, but investors at major firms are still writing checks in the space. Of all the pitches you get, what percentage are DeFi protocols or projects?

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TechCrunch

MARCH 15, 2022

Performing due diligence is critical, but it won’t give you all the information you need to approach a VC. I’ll be talking to more venture capitalists and angel investors in the coming weeks, so watch this space. How to pitch me: 4 VCs share what they’re looking for in March 2022. Walter Thompson.

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