Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2019

For more details, see this recent article from the The Penny Hoarder outlining the most common pitches to avoid. A simple inquiry or response to one of these emails will get you permanently tagged as a prime scam candidate, meaning a flood of new deals. Cash transfer assistance funding. Won the lottery. Delete these quickly.

Technical Review 228

Technical Review Non-disclosure Agreement Due Diligence Term Sheet 228

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2011

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. Tag team shows don’t work in short venues.

Technical Review 237

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Matching 237

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Matching 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 11, 2010

I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Most were on paper and video; 20 were invited to pitch in person. We've all heard of the elevator pitch, but when asked to produce it almost no one succeeded. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. Stay tuned!

Elevator Pitch 325

Elevator Pitch RSS Startup Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Always be Pitching (line stolen from my favorite scene in one of my all-time favorite movies. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 12, 2010

This is part 1 of the series: 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches. Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. Tags: Essays competition introspection positioning strategy. Are these assertions unfair? Do you have more false-advantages to add?

Intellectual Property 319

Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Software Review Open Source 319

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This post describes how companies using the Customer Development model can increase their credibility, valuation and probability of getting a first round of funding by presenting their results in a “Lesson Learned&# venture pitch. Tons of advice is available on how to pitch , present and market your company.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2011

My favorite story in the book was how an inventor looked to bring meaningful change to the old children’s game of tag, and how by incorporating infrared technology into the game – what we now call a mash-up – led the the creation of Laser Tag.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Intellectual Property Jordan Distribution 207

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 3, 2010

When a company claims to be "innovative and disruptive" but then pitches an idea you've heard ten times in the past month, it reminds us that if you have to say it, it's probably untrue. My favorite way to start a sales pitch is to make fun of typical sales pitches. I'm really sorry to disappoint! What are good alternatives?

Software Review 279

Software Review Technical Review Security Advertising 279

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2020

I still hear too many excuses for not working early on the elevator pitch, like wanting to fly under the radar, don’t have the team together yet, or can’t afford an agency. Craft and hone your elevator pitch early. These days, images are especially important, as well as a tag line, and your social media links.

Elevator Pitch 312

Elevator Pitch Public Relations Marketing Social Media 312

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2010

A simple inquiry or response to one of these emails will get you permanently tagged as a prime scam candidate, meaning a flood of new deals. It may even be free, if you sign up for a timeshare pitch at the destination. The pitch will be hell, and you can only see the beach from your hotel through binoculars. Delete the message.

Internet 222

Internet Technical Review Reputation Email 222

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

VC Pitch Decks. The great thing about the VC pitch deck is that you can have 30 slides. This includes emails, phone calls, elevator pitches, presentations, products, resumes, training manuals, you name it. Tags: Startup Advice. &# WIDLIO. I can’t say it always applies but more than you’d imagine.

Elevator Pitch 346

Elevator Pitch Software Review Design Naming 346

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Don’t think for a minute that any serious investor would ever read a summary memo, or watch a pitch, much less read a business plan, when it looks like it’s being sent in bulk to multiple investors. Have an extremely good tag line and instant summary. If your summary video, or summary memo, works, then the next step is a pitch.

Software Review 124

Software Review Due Diligence Venture Capital Elevator Pitch 124

Up and Running

JANUARY 31, 2018

Establishing yourself as an authority is a sure way to increase your price tag. Business: Business plans, pitches, grant inquiries. Send pitches to local businesses. On Upwork , you create a writer’s profile and get updates through email when clients pick you to pitch for their projects. Write a pitch proposal.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Portfolio Social Media Silicon Valley 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2011

A simple inquiry or response to one of these emails will get you permanently tagged as a prime scam candidate, meaning a flood of new deals. It may even be free, if you sign up for a timeshare pitch at the destination. The pitch will be hell, and you can only see the beach from your hotel through binoculars. Delete the message.

Technical Review 228

Technical Review Internet Startup Email 228

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

So one of your sales pitches to them to join is the other people you have on board (or are approaching). Don’t overplay in your VC pitches – Final bit of advice – don’t overplay the advisers in your VC pitch. Tags: Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital. Have 8 of them!

Advisory Board 306

Advisory Board Startup Equity Valuation 306

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

You can sell products and services online without fancy face-to-face sales pitches, you don’t have to rent out an expensive physical storefront, and best of all, you can make sales while you sleep! Image ALT tags: This tag refers to the text on an image that acts as a description for the search engine crawlers.

eCommerce 77

eCommerce Technical Review Software Review XML 77

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2010

Additionally, you need to be able to communicate the essence that story and value to investors in a couple of sentences – your elevator pitch. After a good elevator pitch or initial presentation, investors will ask for your formal business plan and financial projections. Tags: entrepreneurs funding startups business.

Software Review 239

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Startup 239

The Next Web

JUNE 7, 2013

Today is the day that eight hopeful startups got to pitch their ideas to investors at startup accelerator Springboard’s Internet of Things (IoT) demo day in Cambridge, England. But with mentoring and show and tell behind them, today is the day they get to pitch their ideas to investors, so, here are details of seven of the startups.

Internet 120

Internet Bulgaria Portugal Stealth 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 25, 2018

Brabble also can be used as a standalone technology to drive revenue for large ecommerce retailers via their patented technology called Star Tags. You need to get your business plan together, learn your pitch, what makes you valuable and start the process.

Developer 159

Developer Investment Bankers eCommerce Social Media 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Can concisely explain the unique, compelling value of the proposed venture in written terms and in oral presentations (elevator pitch), recognizing that some investors rely more on one than the other. Tags: startup founder entrepreneur skills investors business. Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well.

Angel Investor 241

Angel Investor Technical Review Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 241

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

But Cafepress’s most memorable moment was when the founders used a “Lessons Learned” VC pitch to raise their second round of funding and got an 8-digit term sheet that same afternoon. Brendan McManus said: “Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch [link] #startup #advice [.] It’s a litmus test of how you [.]

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

Haystack

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

I have fielded many startup pitches for podcast-related startups and basically said “no” to each one. That said, the $200M price tag is likely tied to another feature of the company and team, which I’ll talk about below. Again, I hope to be proven wrong — I could’ve invested in Gimlet and today I wish I had.

Acquisition 134

Acquisition Media Audio Technical Review 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2017

For more details, see this recent article from the Better Business Bureau outlining the most common pitches to avoid. A simple inquiry or response to one of these emails will get you permanently tagged as a prime scam candidate, meaning a flood of new deals. Cash transfer assistance funding. Won the lottery. Delete these quickly.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Non-disclosure Agreement Due Diligence Entrepreneur 120

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

Sharks & Angels Pitch Panel An Aussie’s experience of pitching in the US Did someone say Opportunity? I was already Texas-bound to give my personal take on global trends in digital kid’s media, so when the Summit organisers opened applications for an integrated pitch event I filled out the form with a determined “pick me” focus.

Texas 48

Texas Stealth Austin Australia 48

Rembrandt Communications

APRIL 1, 2023

That usually comes after one-on-one media pitching that I’ve covered in previous articles. If your press release is optimized accordingly for the search engines (using the appropriate keyword phrases, titles, tags, etc. Now, if you think that’s how you get major media attention, it’s not. Appear on the search engines… indefinitely.

Distribution 130

Distribution SEO Social Media Search 130

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Adding full lifecycle data and industry exposure tags to that, across such a large number of companies, often enables us to see trends ahead of the market, such as retail decimation a few years ago.” First Round Capital has built an entire function just focused on helping companies refine their pitch and fundraise. Fundraising.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

While some entrepreneurs have experience giving investors their 30 second pitch, corporate CIOs are a bit of a different beast when it comes to selling a product. During the first day of product pitches and launches at DEMO this week, a panel moderated by Computerworld's executive editor Julia King focused on this very issue.

Fractional CTO 116

Fractional CTO Brazil Startup Australia 116

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 12, 2010

On October 14th Tech Ranch will be hosting a Venture Pitch event, where 10 entrepreneurs will be pitching their idea to a panel including a potential customer, a proven entrepreneur, and a seasoned investor. We asked him to tell about the Venture Forth program and his preparation for pitching. The dreaded pitch.

Flash 77

Flash Elevator Pitch Bootstrapping Cofounder 77

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Throughout the month, you’ll see blog posts that cover tips to help find the right VCs to pitch, how much capital to should raise, how to nail the pitch, as well as other directly relevant topics. So you can follow along on our social channels, where we will share a new article everyday tagged with #FundraisingMonth.

Seed Capital 153

Seed Capital Startup Channel Partner 153

Up and Running

MAY 2, 2018

For example, a study by Vennli indicates that: 89 percent of marketing agencies that have achieved a 50 percent or higher pitch success rate use primary research when crafting their pitches. 34 percent of agencies say that respect and credibility in the market is a major reason why they win pitches.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Audience Sales Technical Review 121

ConversionXL

MARCH 5, 2019

A sales pitch on Twitter or Facebook has the potential to be seen by thousands of people, but anyone who isn’t checking their timeline right then will likely miss it. Those insights help make cold email content more relevant, rather than a vague pitch for your product. However, most people only go as far as a {first.name} merge tag.

Email 130

Email Campaign Reputation San Diego 130

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

As a result, her pitch sounded like spray and pray to me. Then Dhana Cohen pitched TheNextBigZing.com where she has collected various merchants with video reviews of products. You can pitch to be featured on my blog following these instructions. Tags: StartUp 101. Vimagino.com. TheNextBigZing.com. Photo by brokenarts.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 5, 2017

Pitch your product or service to your niche market. Many people make the mistake of pitching one product or service to everybody. Implement retargeting tags. You can implement retargeting tags that will enable you to promote your site’s content, products or services offering across different ad networks.

Lead Generation 66

Lead Generation Software Review SEO PPC 66

crowdSPRING Blog

AUGUST 23, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches – [link]. Tags: Strategy Technology business start-up tips blogging cofounders entrepreneurs entrepreneurship leadership marketing pitches startups. Why Finding Technical Cofounders Is Hard – [link]. A Guide to Online Marketing Tools – [link].

Technical Cofounder 80

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Entrepreneur Chicago 80

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Next page: Today's Pitches. Then Zubair Ansari with CionSystems pitched a new IT provisioning and de-provisioning system that aims to handle the growing complexity of cloud adoption. You can pitch to be featured on my blog following these instructions. Tags: StartUp 101. There will be others as you dig deeper!

Cloud 117

Cloud Fractional CTO Entrepreneur Bandwidth 117

Duct Tape Marketing

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

Things like cold calling, making an effective pitch, and understanding prospecting strategy are not always intuitive, and so it’s critical that you offer your team training in various areas so that they can become the confident, well-rounded, skilled salespeople that will perform best for your business. Pair each novice up with a mentor.

Sales 76

Sales Small Business Programming Agile 76