Posts Tagged ‘fundraising’

How To Successfully Pitch Your Business In One Slide

Imagine this scenario. You’re in a meeting with a major potential customer. And this one customer can make or break your business. You have to win this deal or your business is going to fail. Or imagine this scenario. You’re raising money. Do you want to nail your investor pitch? Then download the free, Startup…

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How Important Is It That Founders Have Over 50% Equity?

I think the question implies that the founders need to protect themselves from getting screwed, so having 51% ownership means they can’t be outvoted. Let’s say you start with 51%.  Then you raise money and over time your stake is diluted to 20%.  What are you going to do? Here’s the reality: There is always…

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Is It Good To Approach Multiple Investors At The Same Time?

YES! Absolutely go to multiple VCs in parallel. I was fortunate to be an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at a leading Bay Area VC. I learned something very important: A VC will invest in one company for every 100 face-to-face meetings a partner takes. The only fighting chance you have is pursuing multiple investors. My…

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What Do VCs Look For In A Pitch?

Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and VC at Greylock, has a great post on pitching What I Wish I Knew Before Pitching LinkedIn to VCs. My own two cents based on my experience is: A.  Think visually. VC’s like graphics, not text, so don’t overload your presentation with text. B.  Grab your audience in the…

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Can You Avoid No Man’s Land? Your Startup Depends On It.

Have you ever found yourself in No Man’s Land? You know. It’s kind of like you’re driving along on the highway, and a sign comes along: “Next gas, 50 miles.” Your tank is close to empty. And you’re wondering, “Can I make it another 50 miles?” The temperature is close to 100 degrees outside. You…

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