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. How did you break into tech investing? I was already investing in public stocks, bonds, and preparing to make my 1st home purchase.

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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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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. Founders hit the street with their pitch deck, some make it, and some don’t, but nearly all of them ascribe a lot more human influence over the process than there probably is. I’m a female founder. I don’t have a technical co-founder. I don’t have enough traction.

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StartupNation

MAY 24, 2021

Part of this could be the result of the pitch. Since most investors invest in people, not companies, digital presentations often make it difficult for that sparkling personality to come through. Making the case for startup investment. This, naturally, leads to the question of how you find the right VC firms to partner with.

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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. We had tapped our entire network for warm intros and sent dozens of eye-catching cold emails to no avail.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 4, 2022

This relationship also supplied Spleet with the critical network of landlords required to list multiple units when it went live; the pitch to landlords was that Spleet would bring proper KYC into the rental process and allow them to verify tenants and automate rent collection. Our solution on the tenant side was a no-brainer.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2021

I’ve sat at both sides of the table as a founder and a VC, and I understand how difficult it is to get them on the same page. I’ve participated in a number of accelerators, including Disney and Techstars, and these programs gave me a noticeable advantage when I stepped into VC. Reconnect with impact investing.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Improve your pitch: Startup Battlefield isn’t just thrilling to watch; it’s a masterclass in how investors think. All right, here are the final five business Brahmins who will help judge the Startup Battlefield pitch competition. Mar Hershenson , co-founder and managing partner at Pear VC. in operating roles.

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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? If all my deals came as intros from trusted connections that I know for years versus at founder pitch events that''s interesting data. If you meet someone at a pitch event, they''ve already got a company and they''re looking to close as quickly as possible.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 17, 2023

I shy away from sharing hot takes, but here’s one: With contagion contained, the VC community feels good about writing smallish checks for pre-revenue startups, but Series A and up? If you’re an investor who wants to be included in future columns, email guestcolumns@techcrunch.com with “How to pitch me” in the subject line.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2023

You need a solid business plan, traction to demonstrate market fit, and the skills to pitch effectively. Don’t neglect ongoing investor relations “A lot of startup founders think that the only way investors will respond favorably is if they provide their best pitch on first contact,” said Mohammadi.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. inside insight into VC decision-making. Industry reviews.

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 8, 2013

I usually direct people to this post --still hanging atop the search rankings for " How to be a VC analyst" years later. Since there''s no way to both make yourself accessible and not get a fire hose of inbound, most of the pitches you''re going to have are from perfectly nice, smart people who have perfectly horrific, unworkable ideas.

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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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StartupNation

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

The stats for women in investing are somewhat bleak. Only 11% of VC partners are women , and as a whole, women angel investors have only reached 22%. Alternatives such as angel investing , hedge funds and real estate are all more accessible to women than they were even a decade ago. These numbers are only going to get bigger.

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Hunter Walk

MARCH 2, 2023

So, yeah, we’re believers in being accessible and open to founders regardless of whether or not we share an existing network. That’s why I’m participating in SeedChecks , an experience by which you can submit your pitch deck to a group of early stage investors without having to know any of us already.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 14, 2023

As it carried me through Golden Gate Park at a steady 23 miles per hour (slowing down to 6 mph for every speed bump), I felt like a packet of information being delivered across a network. “We would like to have more peers investing alongside us with this sort of thesis and understanding,” said Roberts.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 22, 2023

If you plan to launch a new startup in France, Denmark or Sweden, there is a new seed fund looking for your pitch. Some business angels like Frédéric Montagnon and Florian Douetteau were quite instrumental in shaping Clustree’s trajectory, so de Raphélis Soissan started investing after exiting her startup.

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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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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. Three more from the TC+ team: Smart dog collars, smart pitch deck? Hitting rock bottom…maybe?

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American Entrepreneurship

MAY 31, 2024

Entrepreneurs seek to find the right investor and to make the best pitch when the opportunity comes Entrepreneurs start their companies with great passion and big dreams. First, they need to know the investment alternatives available for their business and then determine how to meet the expectations of those investors.

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TechCrunch

JUNE 10, 2022

The concept made sense; who wouldn’t want to be invested in ‘Google’ in the early days, but the idea of an industry that did precisely that was foreign to me until about 16 years old. For example, I was mistaken for an intern in multiple meetings and generally not taken too seriously at networking or industry events.

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Jason Malki

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

In fact, only about 2% of startup companies will ever receive VC funding. Use Your Networks One of the best ways to get VC funding is to use your networks. If you have any connections to VC firms or individual investors, now is the time to use them! What companies have they invested in before? And who knows?

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Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Some of Ann’s investments include Lyft, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Refinery29, JoyRun, TaskRabbit, and Modcloth. Given the success of her investments she was on the 2017 Midas List of top 100 venture capitalists. Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. What and when was your very first investment?

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This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

When people describe what they hate about networking, they often use the word “transactional” in a negative way. I’ll charge you for some hours of my time to kick the tires on your idea and help rewrite or write your pitch. Do you aspire to be a partner in VC or to break in? Why do we have to do this little dance?

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

How about as a VC? He hasn't founded or built either a successful, let alone innovative company, and he hasn't raised $ to invest in those entrepreneurs. Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. "Charlie is a nice guy, but his company failed.".

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Black Ops Ventures wants to shake up the norm and invest in Black founders as its focus. Per the founding member, Black Ops will invest at the seed stage, writing checks into rounds worth a few million dollars. ” The thesis at Black Ops — investing in Black founders — is pretty darn smart. .

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TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

The roughly 15-year-old firm has just around $500 million in assets under management — including a $150 million fund that it quietly closed in January — and it makes just a handful of new investments each year. Writing so few checks, particular in a booming market, might prove frustrating to some investors. But it is a SAFE note.

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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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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source that was always problematic for me – intros from investment bankers. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. I’m not a doomsday guy, but just believe that we won’t see a V shaped recovery, which could make VC funding more difficult for tech start-ups (don’t shoot the messenger!).

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 9, 2020

If you're in a more privileged position with lots of VC connections to pitch, you’ll either do one of the following things: You'll come right back at me, tell me why and how I'm wrong—because at this point you have nothing to lose. I’m not sure if that’s how you’re positioning this or not.

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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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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

Whilst there are a wide range of LPs and you could have first meetings for months (and many VCs do), there is probably a much smaller number of LPs who want to invest in a fund your size, with your focus, and whose minimum or maximum check size lines up with what you’re seeking. Why Buy Me? What’s your unique selling proposition?

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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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StartupNation

JUNE 1, 2021

The investment platform I founded and run, VenturePole, is the investment partner of HealthInc, the health tech accelerator of Startupbootcamp, the biggest startup accelerator organization in Europe. The winners receive support, including an investment, to accelerate and scale their ventures. Keep it simple, stupid (KISS).

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TechCrunch

MARCH 15, 2022

Startups and VC. Which is, notably, a new blockchain, and not something built atop an existing decentralized network. Enterprise software is still big business : Sure, VCs want to fund crypto exchanges and whatnot, but the work of building software for large companies is still ticking along. What crypto slowdown? Big Tech Inc.

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