Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the VC & Private Equity world there’s a small number, too, with one of the most respected being PEHub. We led off with a discussion about Slide being acquired by Google, which was breaking news in the time slot where we filmed this episode. That’s thanks to Dan Primack , founding editor. Dan also agrees with this.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

Okay, so now you have it narrowed down and have determined that you need: Part-Time CTO or Technology Advisor to help guide you and close a bit of the Startup Founder Developer Gap , and Equity-Only Cofounder Developer - the first real developer that will work for equity and produce the bulk of the application. Go to user groups.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Let’s take a few minutes to examine the kind of equity financing available to small or early stage businesses. In most cases, these applicants for equity funding must be rooted in technology to apply to this limited discussion. The post When should you go for equity financing? Friends and family investors. Venture farms.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2010

Each month, at the monthly company lunch for all, I’d greet everyone with “Hello shareholders”, and proceed to show the assembled throng slides of high level financial statements, pointing out progress against plan. Yes, sometimes the news is not good.

Slides 216

Slides News Equity Writing 216

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. Remember, investors are buying into the business, not the product.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

They are usually offered around 0.25% of the companies equity in exchange for their role and I’ve seen many companies hand out a total of 2% to advisers. My main advice to you if you’re considering it is don’t waste much equity on it. Using this approach you may be able to get a few key advisers with no equity at all.

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

He would have found somebody technical and inspired that individual to work for equity or deferred payment. I said (out loud), “I sure wish that some of the time that went into these PowerPoint slides would have gone into meetings with the COO, CFO or CMO of [Elephant Customer].&# I said that was my point.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

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. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same. Give the “elevator pitch” for your startup.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I recommend a pitch deck with about 10 slides backed up with a written business plan of approximately 20 pages, both containing quantified answers to the following key questions. How big is the funding request, and how much equity will you give? What is the business problem you are solving?

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

You company is the product and you’re selling an equity ownership in your company but much more broadly you’re selling trust & confidence that you’re going to build something enormously valuable and that you’re going to be enjoyable to work hand-in-hand with over the coming decade of each other’s lives.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level. Specific investment size request, and equity offered. Every investor pitch must include the size of the desired investment, followed by the percentage of equity offered, thus supporting a realistic valuation today.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

After viewing your slide deck, if investors are still interested in your startup, they will ask for a deep-dive meeting to drill in on any hard questions before commencing due diligence. Sweat equity. Equity crowdfunding. Although the term may sound negative, it’s actually a very positive sign.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2010

So here goes … As much as I like to occasionally make fun of having been a consultant early in my career (although I built computer systems rather than just PowerPoint slides), I realize upon reflection that I did learn a lot of great management practices from working in such a large and well-structured organization as Accenture.

Slides 342

Slides Help Ideas Venture Capital 342

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

I’ve heard the following so many times that it still makes me scratch my head, “if those guys are going to get rich off of our backs then we’re going to look like fools if we don’t have equity.&#. I’ve already made clear that I think raising equity from “strategic money&# is an oxymoron.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I put up this slide as part of my discussion. The truth is that the brutal reality of public markets is that they self correct much more quickly than our shitty little private equity illiquid corner of the universe. And I actually think we could learn a lot from public investors even if we don’t always feel culturally aligned.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Slides Capital Funding 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2016

On the positive side, friends and family probably won’t be as demanding on your financial projections as a professional investor, and they likely will be satisfied with an initial offer of a convertible note (loan with option to convert to equity later), so you don’t have to give away the store before you get started.

Funding 60

Funding Startup Ideas Slides 60

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

It’s fair for you to ask for a few slides from each in advance, and make sure the overall story is complete and consistent. Startup equity investments imply a long-term business relationship, lasting five years or longer. Update reference customers, partners, and vendors.

Invest 59

Invest Startup Doc Slides 59

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Let me be quick to say that a plan doesn’t have be a book, and probably should start as a “pitch deck” of maybe a dozen slides which cover all the right bases. When sizing your funding request, be aware of the value of your startup today, since most investors expect an equity share for their contributions.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

Expect to be diluted by 20-25% with each equity round. They’re typically issued at a 10-20% discount to equity depending on the timeframe; higher range is for longer timeframes. Use before and after slides to hit home with investors. Set your fundraising expectations: Fundraising is a full-time job. Venture debt.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Berkonomics

APRIL 3, 2014

There are three classes of equity investors for early stage businesses that we have not yet considered. You will have to hone your story well, down to fifteen minutes and perhaps fifteen slides in your presentation. We’ve spoken of financing a young company through friends and family, known as “inside angels.” company.

Equity 232

Equity Startup Invest Organization 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2016

One way to defer some of these costs, as outlined by ProOpinion , is to provide alternative compensation methods (equity or compensation based) to your new employees. They pay just the smallest bills and let the rest slide. If they are dealing with distributors, that wait can easily be four or five months.

Startup 64

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation. Line up an experienced team.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation. Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation. Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

Awkward topics such as equity share come into play and everyone’s roles and what value they bring to the table are questioned. When I was creating the slide to introduce the team, he asked to be listed as an iOS developer instead of a designer as he was registered.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2018

Do your homework on opportunity, competitors, financial projections, funding required, and hook investors the first time you can with an executive summary and ten-slide pitch. Offer a realistic equity percentage to generate interest. They will be turned off by single-digit equity offers and loan requests with low return potential.

Startup 56

Startup Equity Funding Slides 56

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

But when the finally convert the debt to equity the round gets filed with the SEC and thus journalists often pick up on it. We discussed in the video why they don’t price this money but give it as convertible debt) they don’t make announcements to the market. They also avoid Reg D.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Competition: Chegg (has raised $144 in debt and equity)—estimated by Steven Carpenter ( TechCrunch ) to be 10x more unique visitors than BookRenter (during peak book renting seasons) with nearly $140mm in revenues for 2010. Competitor: Slide. Founded in 2008 by Mehdi Maghsoodnia. Total raised: $129.0mm.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. think his slides are great (and by far much easier on the eye then mine.). It’s good fun to create something as scaled down as 20 slides at 20 seconds each.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Both Sides of the Table , July 22, 2010 An updated Digital Trends presentation - Jeff Hilimire , June 2, 2010 I do what I hate - Jessica Mah , January 7, 2010 Startup Equity Allocation - charliecrystle.com , January 11, 2010 When good investment decisions end up backing more women CEOs: Conversation with Cameron Lester at Azure Capital.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I show charts on housing, structural unemployment, home equity re-financings that we spent meaning less spending power post crash, new housing sales, debt-to-income ratios, public-sector job problems that will cause crises in cities and states across the US. And the equity in their house isn’t rising. My prognosis?

Marketing 305

Marketing Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 305