Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 24, 2015

Sometimes these people immediately try to friend me on Facebook, send me a deck or tell me they want to pitch me a company. There are times where you don’t know somebody but you engage just to get a conversation started or be polite. I don’t recommend coming on that strong. On Twitter add value, be funny, link or be brief.

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APRIL 11, 2022

What Alan recognized was that most IRL forums and networking events are absolutely awful places to pitch and here’s why: 1) When a VC shows up in person, they’re looking to replicate the kind of top of the funnel they would get in an hour or two’s worth of e-mail, and that’s not going to happen if you corral them into a corner for 30 minutes.

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JUNE 26, 2012

I want your pitch to be the one I say yes to--and I want you to solve the inherent problems in your business model. Just take how most people approach networking events and talks. Take pitches? Perhaps this is why I see this behavior more in the junior folks who never have to pitch to LPs or who've never started a company.

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AUGUST 16, 2020

The venture capital community reacted to the racial reckoning the country experienced in June in ways I felt were pretty underwhelming—one-time pitch events for Black founders or promises to only meet with Black founders for a month. The Circulate series acknowledges that access to ideas, resources and networks is structurally unequal.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 5, 2022

The DX event is so powerful because of the networking quality among the MyEO DX community. The three-day DX22 event will be filled with opportunities to network—both formally and informally–and feature intriguing keynote speakers on such topics as real estate, e-commerce and cryptocurrency. Who can attend DX22?

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Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

The most valuable resource the accelerator provides is the network, so use all my time to navigate that network. The press enhances this misconception around YCombinator demo days, where the 3-day pitch event is perceived like an auction, with investors fighting each other for the best deals. A HUGE network enhancer.

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startup accelerator pitching venture capital 334

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JUNE 16, 2014

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. In fact, that''s what I tend to do--at least, what I say that I do.

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MARCH 24, 2014

Not every VC used to get pitched by VC funds for a living and has seen hundreds and hundreds of VC pitch decks. Their guidance and network can also make these companies better. How are we supposed to get better? Not every potentially good VC previously worked for Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman.

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American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 5, 2024

Three finalists received training via workshops and coaching from business advisors, fine-tuning their business plans and pitches for the showcase and pitch competition. In addition to its classroom curriculum, NFTE hosts the Founders Forum Pitch Competition.

pitching 111

pitching founder entrepreneurship education 111

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DECEMBER 10, 2012

You pitch me on some product that. I'm not a publisher, so I have to rely on my network to do due diligence. Ok, so it wouldn't be that bad, but the point is: Never let an investor do your pitch for you to stakeholders. How's that for a strong pitch? When I introduced them to a developer, same thing. oh, I dunno.

pitching 378

pitching startup networking founder 378

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NOVEMBER 17, 2014

Takes an hour or an hour and a half at most and everyone gets the benefit of a public conversation--versus three or four hours of pitches. Those kinds of requests feel desperate and not only undermine their pitch, but it''s still real time that adds up. Panel prep calls. There''s a special place in hell for panel prep calls.

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MARCH 31, 2014

Even if you haven''t gotten offers yet, your time is valuable and you can''t pitch everyone. You feel like you have a decent shot of successfully raising, so you want to prioritize who to pitch to first. Phone calls were no substitute for in person and when it came to hiring, my network simply wasn''t as big up there as it was here.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

I don’t want any formal pitches. Their dealflow is angels or seed investors pitching “their best deals” to you in emails. They usually have strong networks to begin with so suddenly you’re hit up by everybody you know who has a friend. So I have a rule on accelerators. ” I say, “Relationships.”

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peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

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DECEMBER 24, 2018

If enterprise sales is the hard part of what you’re doing, figure out how you can de-risk that first—maybe by trying to pitch some vaporware to buyers or perhaps getting them to pay you to build it on a consulting basis. Build a following around what you’re doing. Be deliberate in terms of what you want to get out of investors.

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pitching angel capital consulting enablement 358

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NOVEMBER 1, 2016

I can't think of a single time when a white man came to pitch me and I told him his fundraising plans weren't aggressive enough. Yet, for some reason, the goals for her pitch were incremental--despite being in an extremely hot space. Everyone says they fund people in their network. And no, that doesn't mean pitch like a man.

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advice founder pitching VC 419

StartupNation

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

In the startup world, it’s pitch decks, not business plans that get companies funded. Making a pitch deck is an art, a science, but most importantly, a story. Angel investors and venture capitalists have also learned to expect a standard pitch deck as the first filter when evaluating a company to invest in.

pitching 122

pitching SaaS mix-use media 122

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 17, 2014

It is a small piece of hardware that syncs up with your phone, freeing it from the carrier network and enabling point to point communication. I was scanning the SXSWSocial network for anyone that had tagged themselves "Brooklyn". But handy isn''t why I backed it. Handy is the first step to gamechanging. million.

networking 297

networking pitching collaboration enablement 297

American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 21, 2025

The Good Soil Movement empowers entrepreneurs through a powerful mix of networking, funding, and resources tailored for growth. This expanded version of the Seed Capital Pitch competition provides half a million dollars in seed grants to deserving entrepreneurs, reinforcing the forums commitment to real economic outcomes.

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entrepreneurs mentorship entrepreneurial ecosystem pitching 86

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 14, 2021

I imagine that other competitors discover the competition by a referral, or maybe they are motivated by their mentors or network to join. However, I met and pitched my business to people that I follow on social media as business role models. Tell us about your GSEA journey. For me, it was totally different. I thought, “Meh.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

He used the 500Startups platform to uber network in the Bay Area where he was living. Of course he pitched me the entire ride down. Come to entrepreneur pitches. Nice kid, but I see lots of nice kids. Sam had different plans. He found creative ways to politely stay on my radar screen. He sent me a few nice emails.

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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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pitching real estate creativity innovation 105

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FEBRUARY 18, 2019

When you back women and you’re trying to encourage the expansion of their network and the building of their personal brand, you cannot help but review all of your own actions after listening to the compounding emotional effects of their professional experiences. There is strength and support in numbers.

venture capital 413

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Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

DECEMBER 4, 2019

The YLAI Network hosted Michael Goldberg , a professor of entrepreneurship and an expert in international business development, for a Facebook chat in November for Global Entrepreneurship Week. Michael answered questions from network members requesting advice for their entrepreneurial endeavors.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 27, 2022

Not only should you start your entrepreneurial journey now, but GSEA alumni also suggest building your network of peers and mentors as soon as possible. Mentors will guide you in the right direction, give you feedback, and might even connect you with others from their own networks. Plan, practice and pitch.

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entrepreneurs peer-to-peer pitching networking 274

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MAY 4, 2021

Below is a link to the pitch video. There wasn’t any context around it—not exactly something I’d call a “pitch”. I explained that this wasn’t really a pitch because it lacked all sorts of context. Having been called out, I set up a meeting—but I didn’t do it to take a charity pitch. Who was the team?

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pitching transportation consulting creativity 243

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

We’ve all heard the anecdotes—the famous founder who pitched 1000 investors before any of them said yes. They think that if they just had enough money to market something, it would take off, yet whenever they pitch the app in front of a crowd of 100 people, the conversion and virality rate isn’t proven out at all.

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startup pitching venture capital founder 293

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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.

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founder pitching VC opportunity 299

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NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Luckily for aspirational baseball players, pitch velocity, spin rate, and just about every other aspect of playing baseball are highly quantifiable in real-time. You throw a pitch and you don’t find out the speed for a year or even longer. That pitch you threw a year ago, that was 92. Actually, it’s even worse than that.

pitching 243

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

How to network better ? I am VERY careful in board meetings and in startup pitches to tell entrepreneurs, “I feel very strongly about my opinion on this topic. On recruiting there is “ Attitude over Aptitude ” 7. Retention “ Don’t Roll out the Red Carpet on the Way out the Door ” 8. Fund raising ?

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American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 20, 2025

expansion partner of Capital Factoryone of the leading startup accelerators and investor networks in TexasSTATION DC brings Capital Factorys resources, mentorship, and investor connections to the D.C. A Robust Network of industry leaders, policymakers, military officials, and investors working across high-impact sectors.

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Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

JULY 27, 2021

I used to pitch ideas to my cousins and my parents of ways I was going to make money. As I went on pitching the idea to other groups, I realized that so many companies, not just small ones, were having these problems. I’ve learned so much about finding the right talent, and finding out what’s available in other markets, and networking.

pitching 219

pitching communities entrepreneurship networking 219

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

a really wide angle view of the tech industry since you see so many concepts / so many pitches and REAL data points on how startups perform financially. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. inside insight into VC decision-making. Mostly it’s philosophical.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Because I''m in my market and in the flow of top teams and networked with the right folks, I''m never more than a character reference away through someone I trust and know well to just about all of the people I''ve backed. In many cases, I got to know the entrepreneur before they were pitching or even had a deck.

investing 363

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

They originally pitched us with a hacked but super productive prototype they built in their fraternity room and a rendering of a beautiful bookshelf sized in-home growing system that they committed to building. One of the first bets we made in Agtech was Grove started by two young, passionate engineers out of MIT – Gabe and Jamie.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 17, 2023

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. Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to respond to these questions in such detail. There’s plenty of tactical advice here, and much more to come.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

But if you work your entrepreneur network, talk with lawyers who do a ton of startup deals, ask existing investors, etc. Take a Test Drive When you create the list of potential VCs to approach make sure you have a few “back up schools” in your mix and test some of those as your earliest pitches. you can usually get a sense of things.

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pitching VC mix-use entrepreneurs 238

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DECEMBER 21, 2017

Would we pitch Series A players? It's too easy to think that if you tilt the pitch just a little one way or the other, that's going to make the difference, but that's Monday morning quarterbacking. Adam Struck brought on significant additional capital from his network. Did that seed make this round our Series A?

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