Jason Malki

JANUARY 15, 2024

Charting the Path to Success in Tech Investing: An Exclusive Interview with GoAhead Ventures’ Founding Trio GoAhead Ventures (“GoAhead”) is a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm founded by three Stanford graduates: Takeshi “TK” Mori, Clancey Stahr and Phil Brady (the “Managing Partners”). How did you break into tech investing?

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2021

While the venture capital boom of the last few years has helped a great number of founders, the capital is not landing equally. Black founders are raising more capital than ever, but still just a fraction of a fraction of what others have managed in recent years. Black founders rarely find themselves in a similar situation.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

On our last episode of TechCrunch Live, we spoke with Wessler and Kindred Ventures’ Kanyi Maqubela to learn how its first fundraising deal came together and how Heartbeat’s pitch deck helped convince Kindred to invest. As we dove into the pitch deck, Wessler and Maqubela both highlighted an early slide (pictured below).

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Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely. We hear startups pitch everyday and far too often founders end up joining the meeting late.

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This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2021

For years, he went on to advise other founders about how to generate VC interest, which really could have amounted to, “Be a warm body with a pulse in a sector that firm got shut out of a deal in.” If they thought there was a 100% chance you’ll do what you say you are going to do, they’d invest now while the shares are cheap.

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Dream It

JANUARY 8, 2020

In our most recent episode of DreamitLive , Managing Partner Steve Barsh spoke with Ron Gula , President and Co-Founder of Gula Tech Adventures. In the episode, Steve asked Ron about his “five slide pitch deck.” Many founders fail to open with the answer to this question. Will you be hiring developers or sales people?

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 28, 2022

This is true particularly if, like many founders, you don’t happen to be part of a social or economic circle where striking up early conversations with potential investors is a no-brainer. James Norman: It’s pretty varied when you’re a first-time founder. Building an investor network from scratch sounds daunting.

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Paul G. Silva

MARCH 26, 2020

Presentations so strong that people who would have never considered an investment in a company like that ended up writing checks. Multi-person pitches add complexity that almost always leads to people going over time, stepping on each other, or confusing the audience. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

After attending TechCrunch Early Stage last week, I was cheered to meet so many first-time founders and experienced investors who are looking for opportunities. 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.

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TechCrunch

JULY 27, 2022

Addie Lerner , founder and managing partner, Avid Ventures. Jay Ganatra , co-founder and managing partner, Infinity Ventures. As a firm that has been investing in the space for a while, what differences in the landscape have you seen since this time last year? Michael Gilroy , general partner and co-head of fintech, Coatue.

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TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

“My 2 cents on why you should invest in my company,” reads the message she received, along with a $0.02 I tracked down and emailed the founder who sent the transfer to figure out what they were up to. ” Herndon claims that those messages were the beginning of a string of meetings that may well result in an investment.

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American Entrepreneurship

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Accredited investors are invited to nation’s largest angel conference, which has invested $4.8M By providing a low initial investment and robust deal flow, SDAC enables accredited investors from across the U.S. to explore angel investing and join the member-managed fund as a way to grow their investment portfolio.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 7, 2021

In a recent episode of TechCrunch Live (formerly Extra Crunch Live) , Sequoia partner Stephanie Zhan and Nick Fajt, founder and CEO of social gaming platform Rec Room , explained what the venture capital firm looks for in consumer-facing startups. You can check out the whole episode as well as the Rec Room pitch deck below.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

But founders are often so consumed with talking metrics, milestones achieved, or the capital they need that they sometimes forget to talk about their overarching vision for their startups. Selling a compelling vision is so critical that some investors weigh it more heavily than the pitch deck itself. It’s not about the slide deck.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 25, 2022

In late 2020, a group of Stanford students banded together to create Stanford 2020, a venture fund solely to invest in their fellow classmates’ ventures. Given the school’s past in spinning out successful startup founders, it unsurprisingly had no trouble raising $1.5 During a downturn, the pitch seems more risky.

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AsiaTechDaily

OCTOBER 26, 2023

The new initiative includes a strategic partnership with the highly anticipated X-PITCH 2023, a global deeptech startup competition aimed at catalyzing the widespread adoption of cutting-edge technology across diverse industries. “We see immense potential in partnering with X-PITCH.

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StartupNation

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

With so many entrepreneurs and startup ventures seeking investment opportunities, it’s crucial that venture capitalists (VCs) create a list of criteria they want their potential investments to meet. As such, VCs have to consider a number of factors when choosing which companies or entrepreneurs in whom to invest.

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TechCrunch

JUNE 1, 2022

Today, TechCrunch is virtually hosting TC City Spotlight: Columbus — an event shining a spotlight on the innovation, investment and entrepreneurship in the region. In true TechCrunch fashion, part two is a pitch-off with an amazing group of founders from the Ohio region. Register here for free.

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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. Halfway through the journey, I realized that something was fundamentally off in how founders tell them and how investors receive them. Who is the founder?

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TechCrunch

JUNE 3, 2021

The fund is commemorating its new identity by investing an additional $300 million in emerging technologies and carbon neutrality via two early-stage funds: the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund and the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund. . The fund is accepting online pitches on its website from entrepreneurs seeking early-stage funding.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

Today, TechCrunch is hosting TC Spotlight: Austin — a virtual event highlighting the innovation, investment and entrepreneurship in the region. In true TechCrunch fashion, part two is a pitch-off with an amazing group of of founders from the Texas region. The pitch-off is split into two segments. Register here for free.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 9, 2020

While I got some very kind words on my recent writings , I heard from some founders that didn't feel like they got treated fairly—specifically around feeling patronized or dismissed—and that I wasn't showing enough action to improve on that. Founders from communities of color are less likely to have personal wealth to fall back on.

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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. The Kauffman Foundation found 47% of US tech founders held degrees in STEM while 34% held degrees in business, finance, and accounting. 1) Freebies for Student Tech Founders. Right here.

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TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

Investors think a great deal about a great number of things when considering an investment: How big is the market? How good is the founder-market fit? I often see product-focused founders spending a lot of time talking about the solution they are building. Is it venture-scale? That makes sense.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

One of the most difficult conversations I have with founders is when they haven’t quite given me enough of a story for me to make a proper evaluation. If I wind up asking for more info, it might result in a founder feeling like they’re getting the runaround, given what the founder believes to be an obviously good idea.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 13, 2022

In more than two decades as an angel investor and early-stage company scout, I’ve met with hundreds of entrepreneurs seeking funds and sat through an equal number of slide deck pitches. From my point of view as an angel investor and former entrepreneur, here are five essential factors I look for when considering my next investment.

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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. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use.

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TechCrunch

MAY 24, 2022

I work with a bunch of founders who have incredible stories, great pitch decks and solid businesses — and they get confused when investors turn them down anyway. What matters is whether it matches up with your investor’s investment thesis. Investment theses will usually include some combination of the below.

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Angel Capital Association

AUGUST 13, 2021

I’m sharing my thought process because perhaps it will nudge some of you to angel invest too! I consider myself a furiously curious person, and angel investing is one of the most rewarding ways I’ve experienced to satisfy this curiosity. THE ORIGIN I was the Founder & CEO of InboxDollars from 2000 to 2019.

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Jason Malki

OCTOBER 24, 2023

Triet’s journey in the world of investing began as a self-taught retail trader, a path he pursued to support his college education. Triet has a wealth of experience in portfolio support, angel investing, venture scout networks, advising emerging funds and startups, and has also been a founder himself.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 21, 2022

The venture capital market is slowing down, which means early-stage founders are chasing a smaller pool of money. “Oftentimes, investors have a sense of whether a pitch is going to go somewhere within the first 15-20 minutes of a conversation.” Not all investors expect to invest in the next unicorn.”. billion to $1.81

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

Founders – pitch on stage with TechCrunch. Next month we’re back with the star-studded TC Sessions: Space – an event dedicated exploring all things innovation, investment and industry in the final frontier. Pitch your space tech startup. Incorporated anywhere (pitch will take place in person).

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TechCrunch

MAY 3, 2023

Signaling that investments in the supply chain sector remain robust, Pando , a startup developing fulfillment management technologies, today announced that it raised $30 million in a Series B round, bringing its total raised to $45 million. But Pando has a compelling sales pitch, judging by its momentum.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 20, 2021

In an Extra Crunch Live this past week, Cleo Capital founding partner Sarah Kunst broke down what founders can learn from Supreme, a sought-after streetwear brand. “Who do I think is going to be an investment with such velocity that getting in early is going to be more than worth it as they grow.”. Around TechCrunch.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 29, 2023

But I’ve always found those same focuses to be especially in conflict with what it means to be an early-stage founder pitching your vision: You have to have Elon Musk-level ambition, big dreams and the ability to sell a company to investors before there are any real metrics behind it. What is this, revenue growth for ants?

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TechCrunch

MARCH 7, 2022

In a recent episode of TechCrunch Live, Agility’s co-founder and CTO, Jonathan Hurst, and Playground Global’s founding partner, Bruce Leak, joined us to discuss the robotic company’s journey from the lab to the commercial sector — and the role a good VC firm can play in that journey. The deck and video are embedded below.

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TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2021

Influential entrepreneurs like Paul Graham and Naval Ravikant always preach the need for startups to have founders-turned-investors on their cap table. As Ravikant puts it, “founders want to know that the people they are taking money from have first-hand experience.” . MAGIC Fund has 12 founders who act as general partners.

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