Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2013

His imagination of what is wrong with VC has captured perfectly in satirical format what ails our industry. It is Nikolas Tesla pitching a VC firm. The back-and-forth between Andy & me if anything I hope just raised the issue a bit more about entrepreneur & VC relationships. He knew me then. They are also sad.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. The short answer is that you should have multiple versions of your “pitch deck” (a short, visual presentation in Keynote, PPT or similar and shared as a PDF) and each occasion has a specific goal. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game.

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VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

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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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pitching VC entrepreneurship leadership 75

TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2023

We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here’s how you can do that. It’s remarkably rarely used in VC pitch decks, which I think is a tremendous shame. I reviewed 1,000+ pitch decks. Sadly, the Scrintal deck is a little lacking on that front.

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pitching collaboration creativity VC 88

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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pitching incubation board opportunity 98

Dream It

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC. What’s Your Problem? What’s Your Go To Market?

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VC pitching founder strategy 364

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

In the past I’ve given some tips for handling meetings effectively, covering topics like: - How not to let your meeting go down a rat hole ; - Dealing with the elephant in the room ; - Dealing with skeletons in your closet ; - How to make meetings discussions, not “pitches&#. - Just smile and say, “Oh, sorry.

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pitching advice culture VC 392

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2010

Personally, I find pitch events to be a little bit contrived. However, the innovation community seems to be in love with this format, so you can’t be a VC without watching a bunch of them. For the most part, while the companies may be interesting, the actual pitches are usually so-so. Those stand out. That's why I have a job.

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pitching VC technology communities 282

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2022

If you told me that a company that’s charging $70 per month for multivitamins would be able to raise a $10 million round, I’d demand to see the receipts, and I’d be very curious indeed to see its pitch deck. Rootine is the company, and the founders were gracious enough to share their pitch deck with me. Cover slide.

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pitching communities support VC 83

Entrepreneur's Handbook

MARCH 2, 2021

Presenting Startup Summit?—?first will be providing us with “Pitch Tips.” a VC firm that has backed companies like Facebook, Slack, and Hopin (the very platform we’ll be hosting the event). Presenting Startup Summit?—?first first 500 people join us for free Hello hello! Startup Summit ?—?taking What are you waiting for?

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startup entrepreneurship creativity pitching 72

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

I sit through a lot of presentations. These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. Each of these scenarios has a team presenting. Some CEO’s are masters at communicating when team members are present. Weave in their pitch to an overall pitch narrative.

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pitching VC leadership advice 377

TechCrunch

JULY 7, 2022

Today, I’m delighted to present the deck the company used to raise its financing. As you might expect, it is a little bit inside baseball — this is a deck for a startup that helps other startups raise money from other VCs — but as you might also expect, Enduring Planet really knows what it is doing. Cover slide.

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pitching financing finance venture capital 93

TechCrunch

MAY 26, 2022

TechCrunch has been covering the demo days of the seed-stage venture firm Pear VC since 2015. There are typically 10 or so companies that present and not many more. The pitch: Spathios says it’s a marketplace to book short-term venues and spaces. A few things have remained true since that time. Founded in: 2020.

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pitching health SaaS accelerator 72

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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venture capital VC advice capital 417

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. While we’ve been strongly supported by our VC backers during the pandemic, the same can’t be said for every startup. Go in warm.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 4, 2022

million at a $12 million valuation , and I managed to talk it into letting me share its pitch deck with you to see how the company wove its story to its investors. We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here’s how you can do that. . The company recently raised $2.5

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pitching disruption opportunity VC 96

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 25, 2022

I get a lot of pitch deck submissions for this TechCrunch Pitch Deck Teardown series from people who are raising friend and family rounds, and I mostly pass on them. It was against that backdrop that I received the pitch deck for the Palau Project. Its founder, Jerome Cloetens, is a professional kite surfer (!)

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pitching sustainability founder investing 88

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. Both presenters are anonymized.

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pitching VC advice strategy 288

TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2021

According to DocSend, the average pitch deck is reviewed for just three minutes. And if you think a senior VC is studying the presentation your team crafted for months as if it were a Fabergé egg — well, you might be disappointed. According to Fisher, the pro forma pitch deck is a thing of the past. Walter Thompson.

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pitching VC venture capital consulting 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

In order to understand how to “get to yes” with a VC you first need to understand how VC partnerships make decisions and then you can understand how to increase your odds of closing a deal. VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching. Reciprocity is equally destructive.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

With VCs my strong suggestion is that you be open & realistic. Leaving your real competitors off of you presentation to a VC is not recommended. Think back to the slides in the VC deck where you define the customer problem you’re solving and what your solution does. Harvey Balls.

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VC education strategy opportunity 313

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

You’ll pitch a new client by e-mail or you’ll ask people you’ve worked with to recommend you. Given that, why wouldn’t you want to present something a little bit different—something that shows off your best thinking? One of my VC coaching clients is looking for a position with a new firm.

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leadership networking creativity pitching 416

TechCrunch

MAY 3, 2022

Pitch deck pro tips from a leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist. At TechCrunch Early Stage, Managing Editor Matt Burns hosted Lotti Siniscalco, a partner at Emergence Capital, for a session on pitch deck basics. ” Pitch deck pro tips from a leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

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pitching SaaS incumbents ventures 84

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 8, 2021

I’ve seen some founders — as a VC, this is gonna sound self-serving me saying this — but I’ve seen some founders that raise way too little capital in their pre-seed round or their seed round. Stephanie Zhan walks through the Rec Room pitch deck that won Sequoia’s investment. Getting the details right in your pitch deck.

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pitching disruption venture capital social gaming 72

TechCrunch

JANUARY 18, 2023

The Sweden-based company’s product combines visual canvases with documentation to help professionals and teams go from idea to presentable work on the same screen — think Miro meets Notion meets a slew of other tools companies use to keep their knowledge in one place and their projects pointed more or less in the right direction.

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collaboration pitching VC accelerator 93

TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. Will quantum computing remain the domain of the specialist VC? Will quantum computing remain the domain of the specialist VC? If you want startup funding, don’t make VCs feel ignorant.

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VC incubation angel investing investing 80

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. I guarantee this is a bad VC. There are many great VCs.

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VC board consulting advice 297

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. If you haven’t read the other VC fund-raising posts I’ve done as part of this series you can find the whole outline and this first in the series here.]

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VC pitching strategy investing 239

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting.

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VC advice pitching venture capital 238

TechCrunch

MAY 17, 2022

TechCrunch is excited to announce the six companies pitching in person and onstage at TC Sessions Mobility 2022. Hailing from around the United States and the globe, founders will pitch on the main stage, for four minutes, followed by an intense Q&A with our expert panel of judges. Startups pitching on the main stage.

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pitching energy startup consulting 76

Dream It

MAY 16, 2019

Click to Share Via Twitter When pitching to VCs, one of the most frequent errors founders make is incorrectly presenting their total addressable market, or TAM for short. The biggest mistake we see with regard to TAM is when founders present a “top-down” estimate of market size.

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pitching real estate VC opportunity 280

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.

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founder pitching VC opportunity 250

TechCrunch

JULY 19, 2022

Year over year, fintech startups received 46% less funding than in Q2 2021, yet the sector still received almost 20% of all VC dollars. Record VC fundraising isn’t necessarily good news for first-time fund managers. ” Record VC fundraising isn’t necessarily good news for first-time fund managers. The presentation deck.

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pitching venture capital VC financing 94

TechCrunch

MARCH 24, 2023

During this one-day startup bootcamp, you’ll learn about legal issues, fundraising, marketing, growth, product-market fit, pitching, recruiting and more. We’re talking more than 40 highly engaging presentations, workshops and roundtables with interactive Q&As and plenty of time for networking.

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incubation construction pitching accelerator 92

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

We have more than 80 presentations (and counting) on tap. You can also catch Startup Alley founders pitching to TechCrunch staff. Look for the Startup Pitch Feedback Sessions scheduled over all three days. Soak up the pitch deck teardowns and the VC presentations. Talk about something for everyone.

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disruption opportunity pitching advice 85

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 3, 2021

Monthly sessions share best practices, resources and cover everything from marketing, presentations, ghostwriting, publishing tips, pitching–any and everything related to promoting authors and speakers. My speaking and presentation techniques have improved exponentially as a result.

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education VC pitching support 306