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. This isn’t surprising.

advice 429

advice pitching venture capital VC 429

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

If you want a very quick primer on all the stuff nobody ever tells you about raising venture capital check out this video where Mark Jeffrey & I break it down on This Week in VC. All of this is covered in more detail on the TWiVC video above (and much of it is covered in text on this blog on the “ Raising VC &# tab).

VC 340

VC venture capital leadership pitching 340

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 24, 2014

Not every potentially good VC previously worked for Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman. Not every VC used to get pitched by VC funds for a living and has seen hundreds and hundreds of VC pitch decks. So what about a Techstars-like program for new VCs? But what about investors? I still would.

accelerator 355

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 355

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

While most of the money that goes into VC funds comes from institutions that are highly experienced in the asset class, some family offices and high net worth individuals also invest in VC. They’re trying to get exposure and diversification at the same time, while potentially seeing co-investment deal flow.

VC 267

VC investing investment strategy 267

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

How about as a VC? Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. Surely--but then I realize how difficult it is to be an early stage VC in NYC. Really never managed anything of significant or built anything major.". what has this guy done? What did I do?

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

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. The VC will smile, thank you, and later pass. The key is WHAT you send.

VC 261

VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

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.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

TechCrunch

MARCH 3, 2021

Weeks or even months of working on your pitch deck could come down to the 170 seconds (on average) that investors spend looking at it. “Investors see a lot of pitches,” VC and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman noted. “In exit strategy”. A pitch deck is a tool to show VCs why your idea merits investment.

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pitching VC strategy leadership 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&# I understand the appeal of having many VC firms on your cap table. In my second company I had only 1 investor. I love that.

VC 314

VC advice pitching investing 314

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

So much of this is gut feel with a thin later of strategy retrofitted to seem more than random. Try and figure out exactly what a startup had to show at the moment a VC chose to invest in them. The biggest problem is that what gets lauded as successful strategy isn't replicable--or at minimum should never be advocated.

advice 412

advice startup VC strategy 412

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.]

VC 239

VC pitching strategy investing 239

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. Some advice on how to do that was covered in this link – Getting Access to a VC. If you haven’t read how to build VC relationships and demonstrate traction make sure to read it.

VC 277

VC pitching advice strategy 277

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 17, 2014

One of the big opportunities for them is audience development--driving event attendees to the content, events to the readers, and doing some low-hanging fruit upgrades to their social strategy. The first pitch I got was from someone who didn''t intend on staying with the business as an employee. How is that story being told?

pitching 336

pitching consulting VC venture capital 336

TechCrunch

JULY 2, 2021

Founder of Unicorn Capital and Minimal Capital, Evan Fisher 's pitching and investor strategy has helped startups raise more than $2.5 Not even a senior VC. Even if the only benefit was that other investment committee members heard the story direct from the founder, that alone would make your video pitch worth it.

pitching 122

pitching VC venture capital capital 122

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

So what attracted Howard Morgan, the VC with the hottest hand in NYC as of late ( Turntable.fm , Fab.com ), to bring the investment back to First Round? Joe and Mary Bureaucrat who don't even use the internet because Smalltown, USA blocks it as the decisionmakers. Ugh, right? Except that its working. how many salespeople do you have?

real estate 316

real estate leadership SaaS education 316

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 23, 2018

I've seen this so many times over: A founder pitches a VC, or several of them, and then they come back from that process with all sorts of new strategy goals or worries that they need to be doing something differently. So why is this feedback seemingly all over the board? That's not helpful feedback.

VC 155

VC advice pitching strategy 155

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I hope you’ll excuse me when I do the latter in combination with the former to try and explain how I see macro trends and help you think about the mind of a VC. Despite working for one of the top 2 talent agencies in LA, despite having had VC experience, Dustin chose another route. He wanted to be an entrepreneur.

investing 303

investing investment VC media 303

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk. Another founder … “When I pitched the idea to Adam, he was super on board,” Mr. Sloyan said. All of my partners at Upfront do.

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. It is clear that he is simply passionate about being a VC and participating in this industry. Investing Strategy. To say something that is not credible.

capital 284

capital board VC pitching 284

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

What is the right organizational strategy for a large UK conglomerate to operate more effectively? What would the right technology strategy for Telecom Italia be in 5 years. In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. But much of the work was unknowable.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

Revolution

AUGUST 2, 2022

What we did: Revolution Growth Vice President, Nancy Hilliker , participated in the 2022 Dig-South Tech Summit, where she discussed supporting a more diverse innovation landscape and the acceleration of connections between VCs and founders in non-traditional tech hubs. Where we went: Chicago, IL ??

economic growth 344

economic growth innovation communities startup ecosystem 344

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

People like Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois, Brian Singerman, Marc Andreessen and others have all made head-scratching private comments to me that sounded so foreign to what I thought other people were doing in VC that they caused me to challenge and ultimately change some of my own views.

advice 407

advice frameworks startup mix-use 407

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. Thank you. (if

capital 265

capital VC consumer retail entrepreneurs 265

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. And VC’s are tough customers. I’ve talked before about how to build long-term relationships with VCs.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

No founder event would be complete without pitches! TechCrunch editorial is looking for 6-7 founders to take part in a Pitch Deck Teardown. Mastering the Pitch Deck Pitches are critical in the quest for funding and first customers. Without further ado, here are your judges for the TC Early Stage Pitch Deck Teardown.

pitching 85

pitching real estate founder disruption 85

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 6, 2019

Ask any VC how excited on a scale of one to ten they are about their latest deal, and they’ll tell you eleven out of ten. Veterans will probably be a little more cautious and tell you they’re at a ten out of ten—but despite knowing all the risks, a VC simply isn’t going to get over the line unless they’re pretty blown away by an idea.

pitching 244

pitching VC strategy investing 244

This is going to be BIG.

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. What we found is that while most of the people turned down the invite, most of the people who showed up invested. 3) Find a flexible lead.

pitching 230

pitching VC investing investment 230

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Today, TechCrunch is excited to announce the 20 startups pitching onstage in this year’s Startup Battlefield. Selected from the most competitive batch in TC history, selected founders from across the globe will pitch on the virtual stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021. To watch the pitches, join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 here.

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disruption pitching startup culture 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

I did 5 years of building large computer systems and computer networks for global corporations and 3+ years as a “strategy consultant.&# In many of the meetings you’d meet clients who would tell you everything you needed to know, would offer to help you and then would never follow up on the help that they had offered.

frameworks 378

frameworks consulting advice strategy 378

Entrepreneur's Handbook

DECEMBER 13, 2020

The Future is Uncertain, Your Pitch Deck (and Profitability) Can’t be On the off chance you need to be reminded, factors that can make or break your business are unpredictable, and 2020 has reminded us in no uncertain terms how quickly market opportunities, customer demands, and institutions can change irrevocably at a moment’s notice.

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pitching VC founder financing 109

TechCrunch

JULY 16, 2021

Yet, that is what Spanish marketing expert and entrepreneur Alex Barrera often ends up doing with startup founders who hire him to help improve their pitch. “Growth companies need to be careful about the potential fallouts of pursuing such strategies. . What do people often misunderstand about pitch training?

pitching 107

pitching startup consulting collaboration 107

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

Detail Orientation / Hands On – One of the easiest ways to rule out people who are pitching to me is when they don’t know the details of their business. I once had a startup team pitch me for an investment where the President of the company led the first call with me on his own. There are easy tell-tale signs.

entrepreneurs 286

entrepreneurs advice pitching VC 286

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. The strategy to minimize loss is not the strategy to win. Execute on the strategy to win. Pitch your startup for an opportunity to meet with Floodgate. She has a BSEE from Yale and a PhD from Stanford in math modeling of computer security.

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VC entrepreneurship pitching strategy 111

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

If you’re not taking this zone-out down time I’ll bet you’re not having enough strategic reflection on your job, your company, your strategy. I want to make sure that my sixth year as a VC doesn’t just become an automatic continuation of what I’ve done in my first 5 years. Board Meetings. Conferences.

creativity 400

creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

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