Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

Check out the previous post about how luck favors persistence. Culture in Action: A Story from Valley Venture Mentors Let me share how this played out at Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), a nonprofit startup accelerator I helped lead. This clarity saved us from building an expensive system that would have worked against our culture.

culture 130

culture strategy entrepreneurship mentorship 130

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 21, 2025

Your organization’s vision works like blueprints it helps everyone understand what they’re building together. Your organization’s vision works like blueprints it helps everyone understand what they’re building together. How will we know we’ve succeeded? What timeline makes sense for our goals?

leadership 130

leadership entrepreneurship startup accelerator entrepreneurs 130

Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

This principle is a core part of how the best companies innovate. Instead, they test, refine, and improve constantly evolving until they find what truly works. This worked great in terms of delivering value to startupsbut there was a major problem: It took an enormous amount of time to organize. The result? The result?

mentorship 130

mentorship energy pitching entrepreneurship 130

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 25, 2025

” Testing my hypothesis meant work : It was easier to keep doing what I’d always done. I called both current and former members to understand what was and wasn’t working. The Challenge of Seeing the Truth In BE 2.0, ” This rationalization nearly cost the organization its existence.

leadership 130

leadership angel investing entrepreneurship investment 130

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Are you trying to figure out how to build a place that creates venture backed IPOs or are you trying to build something where technical people can feel like they’re in a community? Top founders want to live in a place where employees are serious about working hard. First, you have to ask yourself what the desired outcome is.

communities 434

communities startup real estate mentorship 434

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

I appreciated her desire to get back to work, but I convinced her to agree to a 2-3 week sprint. They’ll tell you all about their strategy, the order of operations of who and how they pitched, the magic slides, the timing of the raise itself, etc. So how come the numbers are so skewed in favor of white men?

advice 429

advice pitching venture capital VC 429

Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

This meant: We had to try new approaches We had to gather evidence We only doubled down on what worked Playing Moneyball with Startup Education The book Moneyball showed how easy it is for an industry to “know” what works and stagnate, and that if you look past those assumptions you can unlock incredible value.

innovation 130

innovation accelerator angel investing entrepreneurship 130

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

We’re overjoyed and we’ve begun the task of learning how to manage all the logistics of her care—while somehow doing the bare minimum of that for ourselves. TFW you’re small and slippery and you realize your parents have no idea how to give you a bath. How about paying into childcare costs, adoption, or IVF too?

hospitality 469

hospitality board energy pitching 469

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2022

2) They have no ability to actually do any work in the moment. So much of a VC’s work behind the scenes of their inbox is trying to figure out if this person is for real and you’re only giving them the pitch to vet. And that was it. He walked off. I had plenty of time to ask questions and test it all out. They can’t try your product.

VC 408

VC pitching communities creativity 408

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 10, 2024

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. Entrepreneurs have a vision for what and how to create and build a great business. How does this comport with “skin in the game?” Four reasons you should reconsider.

startup 127

startup consulting creativity finance 127

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 2, 2021

As entrepreneurs transition and adjust to changes the pandemic caused in their companies, how can they build—or rebuild—not only a business but also a team of like-minded individuals with a common purpose or goal? This means that creating a work environment geared toward purpose, creativity and happiness is key to employee retention.

culture 342

culture creativity coworking health 342

Startup Blogpost

OCTOBER 14, 2024

I’ve spent the past 15 years working in public relations, branding, and digital marketing, building a career that intersects several passions of mine—startups, health and wellness, and, most recently, parenting. These three areas have really shaped how I approach brand-building for startups, integrating personal values with strategic growth.

media 105

media financing finance founder 105

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Trust, which today has announced a $9 million financing (Upfront is an investor), is a platform designed to help make the most of marketing investment by providing both analytics and a community of likeminded executives to share what’s working, and what’s not, across platforms. For these companies, it looks like a rosy picture.

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founder peer-to-peer sustainability VC 424

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. I’ve become fond of saying “if I had a dollar for every person who told me just how much they loooooved Kara Nortman, I’d have a 10x fund.” I’m only 52!

ventures 361

ventures leadership mentorship venture capital 361

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 21, 2025

I cant tell you how many times I got announced as a successful VC when I was introduced on a panel or sat across the room from a potential limited partner telling them I was. I did a lot of things pretty perfectly growing upstraight As, never got into trouble, never started drinking, etc., Ultimately, it subsided. What changed for me?

VC 268

VC consulting health enablement 268

Paul G. Silva

JANUARY 28, 2025

Understanding Luck in Business Ever notice how some teams seem to “get lucky” more often than others? Learning Constantly Reflect on what works and what doesn’t Improve your processes Stay alert to market changes and opportunities 4. How did preparation help you use them? Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0).

entrepreneurship 130

entrepreneurship opportunity culture networking 130

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 8, 2025

Since his prospective co-founders were involved in the early development of the new dirt bike, Godby saw how well they worked together and what each brought to the venture. I felt like we had a working history and trusted each other, Godby said. I look fundamentally to whether this person will be a good team member.

startup 98

startup culture entrepreneurship development 98

NZ Entrepreneur

OCTOBER 28, 2024

We’re all continuously learning, and the ADC provided a wonderful opportunity to hear multiple perspectives on relevant topics and to see how I could adapt to better my practice to add more value.” It’s hard work but I find the challenge and fast pace energising and I’m not daunted by uncertainty or complexity.

startup 98

startup mix-use board support 98

Dream It

MARCH 6, 2020

If you based decisions based on a hyper specific geographic portfolio, you cannot get a true feel for whether the product actually works,” states Berman. Does the founder know how to sell into real estate? The worst thing I’ve seen is founders who come in expecting hockey stick growth without any reference set for how real estate acts.

real estate 406

real estate pitching VC opportunity 406

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 8, 2024

In 2024, the day focuses on the close connection between mental health and work. Caught on a treadmill of constant work demands, entrepreneurs are prone to chronic stress, sleep disorders, exhaustion, and other challenges. Learn more about Ethan’s brilliant method and how to apply it to your journey. Master the art of saying no.

health 276

health entrepreneurs energy communities 276

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 15, 2025

Its conversational AI agents are transforming how organizations recruit and manage talent. Our agents don’t just assistthey do the work, enabling teams to focus on strategic priorities, unlock creativity, and drive meaningful organizational impact,” said Maxime Legardez , co-founder and CEO of Maki. “The U.S.

mix-use 98

mix-use enablement accelerator creativity 98

Revolution

MAY 11, 2023

The soundbite: “The way to go fishing is by going where the fish are — we need to open source where federal funding is headed and how to get a piece of the clean energy and infrastructure pie.” There’s a cottage industry of folks figuring out how to stack tax credits from the inflation Reduction Act to accelerate sustainable initiatives.

real estate 296

real estate energy innovation VC 296

Paul G. Silva

MARCH 11, 2025

Turning Feedback into Growth: A Process Based on my experience, here’s how to handle tough feedback productively: 1. In our next post, we’ll explore how mentorship and coaching unlock the full potential of those around you. What’s the toughest feedback you’ve received as a leader, and how did you grow from it?

mentorship 130

mentorship coworking spaces coworking board 130

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

How this theater director built accessible creative spaces to connect communities in Peru By Jewelle Saunders “Art can transform society,” says Déborah Grández Seminario. This diagnosis caused her to pause her research and take time to learn how to live with her pain. She then began to work on her physical therapy and her treatment.

creativity 290

creativity communities peer-to-peer culture 290

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 7, 2024

Many companies have struggled to develop their flexible work policies, but what you may not realize is that many investors are watching — and judging them. Indeed, a number of investors have explicitly and publicly integrated work-from-home (WFH) policies into evaluations of prospective investment targets. The results?

culture 234

culture consulting investment investing 234

Hunter Walk

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

I was a consultant who had spent my career, starting at the age of 16 and working as a cashier in a grocery store, in and around the grocery industry. In the conversation I remember us circling on this idea – “I don’t think this will work, but if it does, Sita (who was three weeks old) may never do her groceries in a real store”.

board 104

board collaboration energy advice 104

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 11, 2021

In case you missed it, here are 7 “Magic learning moments” that this inspiring entrepreneur shared during the interview: You’re going to have to work for it. Leaders must know how to get the best from their teams. A lot of teams think they can coast in practice and then turn it on in games, but it doesn’t work that way,” Magic shared.

consulting 318

consulting entrepreneurship entrepreneurs communities 318

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 15, 2023

Women entrepreneurs will learn from experts how to navigate the three pillars of every woman entrepreneurs’ life: business, family and self. A quiet moment of instimacy with any entrepreneur will confirm the obvious: It’s extraordinarily hard work. How did she get there? Everything else falls into place from there.

entrepreneurs 264

entrepreneurs energy board entrepreneurship 264

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 14, 2022

It disrupted the way work was done, which means it also impacted how leaders operate. Remote and hybrid work became the new normal overnight, and leaders had to quickly transition to new processes and systems. Why was the shift to remote work so powerful? It challenged leaders to think beyond the status quo.

leadership 331

leadership consulting disruption collaboration 331

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 8, 2025

In a world where mental acuity is increasingly recognized as an important part of overall health, Pisons cutting-edge technology is set to redefine how we monitor and enhance cognitive performance. The companys latest breakthrough in AI-powered neural sensing marks a significant leap forward in wearable technology and healthcare innovation.

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technology ventures investing investment 98