Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Many entrepreneurs struggle with their setbacks.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

Berkonomics

APRIL 19, 2012

Professional investors laugh when they hear an entrepreneur state, “We have no competition.” That statement has killed more investment deals than almost any other. It is a failed litmus test for the entrepreneur, even if the plan is for a totally new device or service that could take the world by storm.

Competition 189

Competition Slides Sales Ideas 189

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 106

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. GUI Fever – Entrepreneurs are often justifiably proud of their clever, clean user interfaces.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. Thinking out loud – I’m sure that’s important for entrepreneurs as well. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. We were SMOKING cash.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2017

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 54

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. I think the norm in the industry is still to see Powerpoint slides and I wouldn’t hold this against anybody.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In reality, they need a separate pitch about the business, carrying over only a slide or two about the solution. Specific elements of your marketing and sales plans.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. My background is I was a sales rep in this industry for fourteen years, with Nikon. We got first place in that competition, and they followed up with a $2M investment in the form of a convertible note. After that, we had a $7.5

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

. - A tale of two pitches (I eventually invested in the first company that pitched). This might be a VC meeting but also might just be a sales or biz dev meeting. It’s any meeting where you are in a small room and are being called on to present on some form of overhead slides. In slides, less is almost always more.

Tips 392

Tips Screening Slides Venture Capital 392

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. Present at trade shows and network with your ten-slide pitch to build your following. As a result, smart investors will tell you they invest in the jockey, not the horse (people, not ideas).

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. It’s the same as in any sales-oriented meeting and make no mistake raising money is sales. Use something like, “I noticed you invested in a couple of companies in the x,y,z space.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. My background is I was a sales rep in this industry for fourteen years, with Nikon. We got first place in that competition, and they followed up with a $2M investment in the form of a convertible note. After that, we had a $7.5

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Don’t dwell on this slide for ever. If I have an hour with you I want to maximise the time we have a discussion so I want to get through the slides quickly. Most entrepreneurs are.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level. This implies high odds of a scalable business, simply needing an investment to lead to success.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. If a company wants to invest in your company and you haven’t read that post please do. million in sales.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

1) has escaped the attention of the major Internet companies, which are better run than ever before; (2) is capable of being launched and proven out for ~$5M, the typical seed plus series A investment; and. (3) Entrepreneurs can still build big businesses on the outskirts.” How many ideas like that are left?” ” My 3.5

Technical Review 299

Technical Review Venture Capital Yammer Google 299

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

- SoCal CTO , January 13, 2010 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 9 Reasons Why Many Smart People Go Nowhere - Life Beyond Code , March 29, 2010 No Accounting For Startups - Steve Blank , February 22, 2010 Startup Advice In Exactly Three Words - #StartupTriplets - OnStartups , January (..)

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 19, 2011

CapLinked , the online platform for private investment funded by members of the “ PayPal Mafia “—announced that it is launching a worldwide pitch competition for entrepreneurs to present their business ideas to a panel of all-star judges from Idealab, Rincon, Rapidfire, and Actarus. says CapLinked CEO Eric M.

Competition 70

Competition Idealab Slides Startup 70

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

I will outline here ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster. Seasonal sales fluctuations eat cash. Fluctuating sales means more inventory is required to cover the ups and downs.

Startup 114

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 114

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. I started by trying to think I could explain my concept without having to patronize everybody with artificial PowerPoint slides. Slides, please.” My blog was wiped out. I was wrong.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. What is the timeframe of return on investment?

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs a value proposition statement for his or her startup that can hook potential investors and partners in less than a minute -- the short time you might join them in an elevator on the way to their offices. Skip the sales pitch and avoid preaching. Smart investors invest in people, even more than a great product.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2016

In the new business world, many entrepreneurs are so excited with large initial orders that they don’t anticipate the cash flow challenges that can quickly kill their startup. Seasonal sales fluctuations eat cash. Fluctuating sales means more inventory is required to cover the ups and downs.

Startup 64

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 64

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The path I went down after a few years was to hire more process driven people and devolved more daily operational ownership to people running individual functions such as product management, sales management, finance, etc. One of the most obvious places where you see this is in sales & marketing. Ditto the CFO. I was the laggard.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. Nowhere is social proof more prevalent than in angel investing.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

The Quigley Report

MARCH 4, 2008

So to some extent, entrepreneurs and VCs can comfortably ignore the chaos of currency fluctuations, interest rate changes and other macro finanicial shifts. For instance, in the enterprise networking space, companies like Riverbed, Aruba and Isilon were trading at better than 10 times sales. So what are they doing?

Startup 40

Startup Slides Marketing Clearstone 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) But if you have approached a senior member of your industry and if they’re on 4 advisory boards, have done 3 angel investments and probably have a full time gig themselves – it is hard to really get into the details of your company.

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

One area I’ve had much discussion with the companies in which I’ve invested in is bringing on board an operationally focused CFO. It freed up Ophir to grow out our sales organization, to work more closely with agencies, to innovate on product and to raise capital. It’s the nature of most entrepreneurs, honestly.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

socalTECH

JULY 10, 2019

The only thing we knew, is you sent around this set of slides which was supposed to convey what could bette rbe conveyed in conversation. One day, after they made their first investment, a six-figure sum, we figured out we needed to take this money seriously and not be in school.

Pricing 113

Pricing Startup North Hollywood Platform 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2013

The challenge is to communicate your idea in one page, and close the deal quickly without a big slide presentation. Throughout a career lifetime, just think of the return on that investment. Business Sales Techniques. entrepreneur business classes startup college course business professional' Touch-Typing for Dummies.

Class 93

Class Course Writing Slides 93

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. After the sales meetings I would ask the exec afterward, “how do you think it went?&# We used to do this in our sales slides.

Venture Capital 275

Venture Capital Sales Slides Startup 275

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

These are usually the first sources entrepreneurs tap. If you go this route, be careful to make the stakes clear: i.e., that they could lose their whole investment. Angels (invest their own money) and super angels. If you’re raising funds from angels you’ll likely need to get investments from several different players.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40