Founders and Fundraising
7 Tips For Pitching Your Company To Anyone
I’ll never forget how nervous I was before my presenting to a VC for the first time. I was an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) at a VC fund based in San Francisco, and we were going to give a dry-run presentation to Dave and Alain, the two VC partners I was working with. [Do you…
Read MoreFive Reasons Why You Should Avoid Raising Venture Capital
Many entrepreneurs don’t understand the cruel reality of fundraising. Just because you want to raise venture capital doesn’t mean you will raise venture capital. Consider this ratio: 100:1. That’s one investment for every one hundred face to face meetings a typical VC will take. Raising money is unbelievably hard. [Do you want to grow your…
Read MoreWhat Do VCs Notice When You Pitch Them?
The CEO was wearing a polo shirt and he sat down in the middle of our big conference room. There were about ten of us from the venture capital fund in the room with him. The CEO didn’t stand up like the other CEOs I’d seen present did. Instead, he stayed rooted like a plant…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Painful Things You Need To Do As CEO?
I was talking to a Venture Capitalist early on about our company. Out of the blue the VC looked at me and said, “Well you’re the CEO, so you get to deal with investors like me. “And that’s why you get more stock than the others.” If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero…
Read MoreThe Nine Facts Of Fundraising You Need To Know
“Hey Brett, I’m going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks. I’ll pick up the diligence when I get back,” Tucker said to me. Tucker was a potential new investor in our company. I could tell he was serious about investing in our company based on the work he was doing. If…
Read MoreWhat Are The 11 Steps You Can Take When A Cofounder Quits?
I started my company with two co-founders: “Jim” and “John”. I was the CEO, Jim was the marketing guy, and John was the engineering guy. My two co-founders and I had worked together previously. We understood the plan and direction we were going in. We started pitching VCs after working on the plan for about…
Read MoreWhat Are The Challenges When You’re Getting Started?
“I just want to be able to breathe,” I said to Irwin and Winston, two VCs I was meeting with as I began raising our Series B funding. The second I uttered those words, I wanted them back. I thought my words exposed my inner feelings, but Irwin and Winston just moved on with the…
Read MoreWhat Are The 6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be An Entrepreneur?
“Hi Brett, it’s Steve. I know it’s been a while since we spoke, but I’d love to catch up with you to bring you up to speed on what we’re doing.” Then the voice message ended. If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero to Pitch Gold now and get expert feedback on your…
Read MoreWhat Are The 17 Biggest Surprises When You Founded Your Company?
I remember talking with Jeroen, my fellow co-founder and VP of Engineering. Jeroen smiled at me and said, “I’m in line at the market and I just want everyone to start moving faster! If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero to Pitch Gold now and get expert feedback on your pitch this…
Read MoreThe Five Signs You’re Not Thinking Big Enough
“Why are you worried about selling your company?” I asked Fred. “You’re just getting started, and you’re worried about selling (your company)? That doesn’t feel good to me.” If you’re serious about raising your funding, join Zero to Pitch Gold now and get expert feedback on your pitch this week. I had just met Fred,…
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