View from Seed

JULY 8, 2020

Today I’m excited to announce the relaunch of our most popular resource ever: board meeting deck templates for seed-stage startups, now in conjunction with an investor update email template. We first released a version of the board meeting deck template template back in 2014 and then a revised version a couple of years later.

Email 331

Email Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 331

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. Maintain a weekly “huddle meeting” with the entire team. But fortunately, team building is a skill that can be learned and practiced, for those willing to put in some effort.

Leadership 318

Leadership Technical Review Technical Cofounder Development Team Review 318

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You had an amazing meeting with an investor. The meeting was only supposed to last 45 minutes but you ran 90. The assistant tried to end the meeting twice but was shoooshed away. You left the meeting dreaming about money and finally having resources to do all of the things you wanted to do. Your product demo crushed.

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

VCs are always founder focused no matter the market environment. But in a FOMO world, more investors are willing to take a chance on a founder that they don’t know, but seems to match some of the heuristics of other high quality founders. This gets really challenging if it remains difficult to meet in person or to travel.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

View from Seed

APRIL 6, 2021

You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. If you or someone that you know might be a great fit for this role, please apply here. You are hungry.

Technical Review 317

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage Cofounder 317

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Just make sure you can fill in all the details.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. How does it meet customers’ needs? Conclusion Startup metrics are an invaluable tool for founders and innovators. What does the business do? And most importantly, how does it make money?

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 260

View from Seed

JULY 29, 2020

One of the most important things that VC’s take note of is the impression created by your choice of co-founders. One of the most important things that VC’s take note of is the impression created by your choice of co-founders. Are both founders versatile and strong enough to scale with the company over the next 3-5 years?

Cofounder 408

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Equity 408

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 13, 2022

Founders seem to get that. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t mean trust in the sense that VCs think founders are just going to get a fake passport and move to Fiji, or that investors are secretly plotting to take over the company. The price negotiation process is pretty straightforward, and once a deal has been agreed upon we move on.

Founder 159

Founder Fiji CTO Hire Term Sheet 159

View from Seed

APRIL 27, 2020

Founders do not have this luxury. Most founders are going through hell right now, and that is not going away any time soon. For investors and founders, the next several years are going to be very different. In a period of uncertainty, the easiest thing to do as a VC is to be paralyzed by fear and do nothing. This is scary.

Cofounder 194

Cofounder Software Review Portfolio Technical Review 194

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2019

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. Five-minute meetings cannot be five minutes of anyone talking. What is said in a meeting must stay in the meeting.

Elevator Pitch 312

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Dividend Leadership 312

View from Seed

JULY 6, 2020

You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. . You enjoy meeting new people and have a healthy appetite for conversation. You are hungry.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Software Review Hiring Seed Stage 257

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. More importantly, investors want to see and hear the top guy – typically the founder or CEO. The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes.

Technical Review 369

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Matching 369

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

A few weeks ago I shared some important leadership lessons from Stewart Butterfield , including investing in your own growth to make sure that the founder scales as fast as the company. Growing with your start-up can be a very tough undertaking for a founder. There’s typically little choice for a founder CEO.

Part-Time VPE 258

Part-Time VPE Management CTO Hire San Francisco 258

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

I will also delve into how to prepare for them, how to make the meeting effective and how to best follow up to make sure people take action. BEFORE THE MEETING 1. Read the materials in advance A really large portion of directors clearly haven’t read and mentally processed the materials before the board meeting.

Cofounder 251

Cofounder Conversion Management Founder 251

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. A sales fanatic on the founder team helps to contain that risk. The combination of technical insight, founder authority, and sales experience is a hard-to-beat advantage in a competitive market. The trusted leader. The industry veteran.

Technical Cofounder 309

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 296

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Pivot early, as required, to tune your features and marketing to meet the market and technical realities. Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2020

Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. The only real alternative is to find a co-founder who can build and lead the team, while you focus on the product. Maintain a weekly “huddle meeting” with the entire team.

Leadership 326

Leadership Technical Review Development Team Review Startup 326

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Just make sure you can fill in all the details.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

In my experience, a healthy team is a prerequisite for a thriving business, innovation to meet market needs, and high customer loyalty. They must manage to these daily, have savings plans in place, set financial goals, and stay on track to meet those. Emotional stability. It is the key to coping with stress and adapting to change.

Technical Review 353

Technical Review Cofounder Employee Global 353

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

For you, this means get out there and meet your customers, build a relationship via social media and commit to a purpose beyond profit. Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, set a higher purpose of donating a pair of shoes to the needy for every pair sold, and found that the return was far greater than the cost of donated shoes.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 24, 2020

At the same time, a startup must meet the principles of business planning even before it is launched. Remember that investors will not appreciate a business plan that features exorbitant salaries of the founders. Remember that investors will not appreciate a business plan that features exorbitant salaries of the founders.

Business Plan 263

Business Plan Ukraine Cofounder Startup 263

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business. Be ready when it counts.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 20, 2023

With such daunting statistics, it’s clear that maintaining a startup becomes an uphill battle for founders without the right foundations. With such daunting statistics, it’s clear that maintaining a startup becomes an uphill battle for founders without the right foundations.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review Startup Silicon Valley Agile 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

In my experience as an advisor to entrepreneurs, business startup founders most often point to a shortage of funds as the primary cause of their startup failure. In fact, this problem is so common among business startups, that is has been tagged with the name “ founder’s syndrome ” or “ founderitis.”

Founder 223

Founder Technical Review Cofounder Demand 223

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

You have 5-10 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, and/or investor. You have a deep desire to hone your skills as a venture capitalist and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. You enjoy meeting new people and have a healthy appetite for conversation. You are hungry.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review North America Seed Stage Bandwidth 156

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 10, 2023

In navigating the transition from founder-led sales to a structured approach, the pivotal question arises: when to hire a Sales Development Representative (SDR) or an Account Executive (AE) ? Drawing from substantial experience, Sally Duby from The Bridge Group provides valuable insights into the intricate realm of sales development.

Early Stage 78

Early Stage Sales Developer Development Team Review 78

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

by Matt Martin, Co-Founder and CEO of Clockwise. A No Meeting Day can improve focus and productivity. Companies from Shopify to Facebook to Asana have embraced the “No Meeting Day.” Setting aside one day per week to focus on heads-down work without being interrupted by meetings can increase productivity and reduce stress.

Management 232

Management Cofounder Software Review Employee 232

View from Seed

MARCH 11, 2020

When a founder is raising money, he/she should expect that any serious investor will conduct some level of due diligence before getting to yes. They tend to have some sort of framework in their mind with a hierarchy of conviction and hierarchy of pain they are willing to put founders through.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Seed Stage 279

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 13, 2020

by Simone Semprini, CEO & Co-Founder, TourScanner. Remote working and remote meetings. Video conferences have replaced personal meetings and daily or weekly commuting has suddenly disappeared. It was a surreal situation with over one billion people confined at home. Effect of the lockdown in the travel industry.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review United States China Cofounder 278

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 30, 2022

Therefore, to allow your project to develop and increase profits, you must prepare for a meeting with potential investors. To do this, startup founders need to analyze how many potential customers the product has, how much they can pay, and how their number changes over time. Deep Market Analysis. Drawing Up a Financial Business Model.

Software Review 183

Software Review Technical Review Cofounder United States 183

Version One Ventures

MAY 3, 2023

I just returned from a weeklong trip to India, having spent a few days each in Delhi and Bangalore to meet with local entrepreneurs and investors. And I had more than 20 1:1 meetings with founders, angels, emerging fund managers and institutional VC funds. I had only a few connections in India before this trip.

India 87

India LP Silicon Valley Vertical 87

VC Cafe

AUGUST 4, 2022

This is an incredibly tough time to a lot of founders. Many founders have hard choices to make, and face big consequences to the macro trends like inflation, reduce spending, increased interest rates etc. I see founders that stopped sending investor updates. Keep the lines open. Keep the lines open. Focus on what you can change.

Founder 158

Founder Aggregator Startup Valuation 158

VC Cafe

JANUARY 22, 2021

In addition, Amazon launched two dedicated funds: Alexa Startups – The Alexa Startups team engages founders and investors through startup programs, business development, and technical support. The information in this post was provided and fact checked by AWS managers Moran Nir and Jonno Southam. Investing and m&A.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Incubator 174

Mucker Lab

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Mucker’s first meeting with Emotive happened in November of 2018, though our initial investment wouldn’t happen until 18 months later in May 2020 when we would lead their Series A. We normally tell founders we can be fast and turn things around in just a few days if needed.

Seed Stage 135

Seed Stage Term Sheet eCommerce Technical Review 135

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Lifting the Founder’s Curse: Unlocking Business Value Beyond Yourself written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interviewed Ryan Deiss, a serial entrepreneur, author, and the founder of digitalmarketer.com.

Engineer 71

Engineer Software Review Operations Founder 71