Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Slides 147

Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

socalTECH

JUNE 16, 2010

My partner and I, Cliff Elion, have a patent pending neck technology, which enables the guitar to be made at a very accessible price point, and also have probably more functionality and connectivity than any device in history. When we started discussing the idea behind the company, Guitar Hero and Rock Band were the talk of the town.

Orange County 244

Orange County Startup Slides Paramount 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Slides 105

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 105

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2012

Olloclip managed to fund and start the company based on crowdfunding, and is one of the most popular projects that has been funded through Kickstarter. You can slide it onto the corner of your iPhone, or you can flip it over, and it you get a wide angle lens. First of all, tell us about what olloclip's products are? Patrick O'Neill.

Patents 191

Patents Ideas Design Startup 191

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Thus I offer the following outline for how to organize and present your business plan, with specific examples: Start with outlining the customer problem, and your solution. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2011

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Slides 95

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2012

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Tips 97

Tips Slides Technical Review Startup 97

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

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. Build up for the punch line at the end. Always start with a hook to get the investor’s attention.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. Start with the problem and your solution.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. It’s better to start with a hook than to assume that people will stay with you to hear it at the end.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Opportunity sizing.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the Angel perspective (as a member of an Angel group screening committee).

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my experience and data from the field, over seventy-five percent of new startups fail, even with venture backing. Unfortunately, I see good startups fail simply because they don’t have the resources or intellectual property to stay ahead of copycats or big players who see the potential as soon as you step into the marketplace.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2010

I was recently a judge at a local event where the time limit for each startup was two minutes. Yet a big complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often waste their time and forget to get to the point. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. Check the setup and set the stage.

Tips 56

Tips Slides Startup Research 56

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

If you are one of the thousands of entrepreneurs who need equity funding to get your startup going (no loans to repay), you are probably overwhelmed at the prospect of finding, contacting and pitching to the huge number of qualified angels and investment groups around the country. Register Internet and social media startup names.

Platform 94

Platform Equity Invest Technical Advisors 94

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. Great startups have budgets.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Don’t believe that Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money. 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.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

As a technology buff, I’m all too sensitive to the common investor complaint that technical people often end up selling yet another “solution looking for a problem,” because they are so impressed with their technology. Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. This blog post ended up on Valleywag (which had much bigger presence back then). Anyway, the starting point for this blog entry is a cartoon I remember reading in the New Yorker.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274