Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. Even if you don’t have previous businesses to reference, relate examples of your problem solving ability and determination in other contexts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2022

There is no substitute for location visits, reference checks, and other due diligence before signing contracts. Don’t make gut decisions based primarily on marketing pitches and hard-sell tactics. Build personal relationships with key constituents, just as you do in your personal life. Big growth takes big investment.

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InfoChachkie

MAY 7, 2012

If you are fortunate to pitch a sophisticated investor in person, assume they already believe in the veracity of your idea, the market and the underlying technological trends. Confirmation from people whom the entrepreneur did not cite as a reference is vital. As such, communication had to be clear, open and direct.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And a key point is that when it comes down to “negotiations&# you need to turn up your personal heat and dial back the middle man. One thing I learned from the book is that real estate agents always sell their personal property at higher relative prices than their clients’ properties. They want to place this person.

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Tech.Co

JULY 24, 2017

Especially in the early days of your startup, when you’re often only months from running out of money, hiring the wrong person can be disastrous. But how do you go about pitching your friends? I suggest to customize your pitch for them. Next, figure out a venue for the pitch. First, figure out what motivates them.

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Networking Startup Software Review Conference 82

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

They’re pitching to you. I’d like to talk about Crocodile Salesmen in 3 scenarios: 1) when YOU are selling (or someone on your team), 2) when you are trying to recruit a sales person. What I personally recommend is that you use “What We Find’s.&# How do you know if you have the right person?

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Shockingly, some of the recommended tactics pitched by NPS gurus could actually decrease your sales by solidifying a propensity to not promote your solution. Yes” responses are prime candidates for future references. As noted in Personal Pitch , entrepreneurs must make it easy for others to help them succeed.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Who was willing to jump on a plan on a Sunday morning with a hang-over to make sure they were there the night before an important biz dev pitch on a Monday morning. When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Who in stead said, “That’s what Skype is for?”

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Shockingly, some of the recommended tactics pitched by NPS gurus could actually decrease your sales by solidifying a propensity to not promote your solution. Yes” responses are prime candidates for future references. As noted in Personal Pitch , entrepreneurs must make it easy for others to help them succeed.

.Net 168

.Net Satisfaction Customer Custom 168

socalTECH

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Jon Grishpul: We realized that although there are lots of other services, and in an age of technology and automation where so many things can be automated, there are still some industries like home renovation and construction where you need to have a personal approach. We really want to take a personal approach.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

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InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

“One of the big misconceptions in baseball is that playing the game keeps you in shape to pitch. Major League baseball pitchers spend far more time preparing to pitch than they actually do pitching. Step 2: Get Personal & Give Freely – Once you identify a handful of potential VC partners, stealthily cyber stalk them.

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InfoChachkie

APRIL 9, 2013

When appropriate, open your business presentations with an anecdote or personal story that establishes affinity with your audience. The success or failure of business presentations often rests upon the questions and answers following the formal pitch. Due to their limited stage time, comedians must quickly set the tone of their act.

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Tips Entrepreneur RSS Startup 241

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 15, 2011

An important aspect of effective networking is to understand how the person you are speaking with relates to other members of your network. Significant affinity can be created by drawing lines between yourself and friends of the person with whom you are networking.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2013

These references make for great discussions with customers. If you have enough references in your arsenal you obviously want to pick out ones that you believe will resonate with your prospect due to job function or industry. I think every big sale I have had in life came because I genuinely cared about the person buying from me.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

The title was “The Jerk,” which is a reference to both the Steve Martin film but more precisely to Robert Scoble’s interpretation of Steve Jobs having just read his biography. VC Pitches. Having been an entrepreneur for near-on a decade and having pitched in 100 VC meetings I hated getting no feedback.

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Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

Trying to stack the deck probably won’t work, but some effort makes sense, since I have personally seen more than one deal fall apart due to key team members being totally out of sync. This meeting should include the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2014

Helpers are expensive, since it often takes longer to jointly do a job than it would take one qualified person to do it alone. “I After my sales pitch, he was so excited I knew he could do the job.” Avoid evaluating just personality in lieu of job skills. I didn’t have time to read the resume, but he has great answers.”

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Startup Statistics Summary Entrepreneur 96

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

Few customer pitches are too brief - fulfill your customers'' needs by saying less and listening more. Protect your personal and corporate brands by always doing what you should do, rather than what you could do. Greene: When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. . Greene''s book.

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Jason Nazar

JUNE 1, 2016

Yet, I always get asked: “What’s the secret to win over investors in pitch meetings?” These are the pitch techniques the best entrepreneurs employ to raise billions in capital. None of this can substitute for the business fundamentals, but it never hurts to be the best pitch person in the room. Don’t Slow Play It.

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Slides Startup Entrepreneur Metrics 49

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2013

Helpers are expensive, since it often takes longer to jointly do a job than it would take one qualified person to do it alone. “I After my sales pitch, he was so excited I knew he could do the job.” Avoid evaluating just personality in lieu of job skills. I didn’t have time to read the resume, but he has great answers.”

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Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Resource 100

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 7, 2015

That’s right, I’m referring to high school students. You can grab one to meet either in person or online whenever you need one. We then spent weeks creating a business plan and pitch, found family and friends willing to invest, recruited a tech and marketing team, and then proceeded to develop multiple versions of the app.

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Demand Technical Review Los Angeles Platform 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2017

Stick with people you meet through warm introductions, or count on the integrity of professionals who have a visible reputation and references, instead of a legal document. Prepare a high-level pitch. The same is true for strangers who may approach you at networking events or industry conferences.

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Technical Review Patents Ideas Social Media 61

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

Having been on both sides of this sensitive topic, the following is my personal advice. I personally believe it is appropriate to say. Obviously if we continue in discussions with you we would be more than happy to organize reference calls for you to validate our success. When I was raising money I pitched to several VCs.

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Technical Review Venture Capital Customer Custom 316

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2012

Helpers are expensive, since it often takes longer to jointly do a job than it would take one qualified person to do it alone. “I After my sales pitch, he was so excited I knew he could do the job.” Avoid evaluating just personality in lieu of job skills. I didn’t have time to read the resume, but he has great answers.”

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Company Companies Startup Statistics 94

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 24, 2013

This is the most important role because this person graduates a company from startup to viable long-term business. Thus, the true testament to your ability to scalability is virality, or when your users like your product enough to refer a friend. Both of these elements focus on thru-put in the funnel and less on the funnel itself.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2010

Helpers are expensive, since it often takes longer to jointly do a job than it would take one qualified person to do it alone. “I After my sales pitch, he was so excited I knew he could do the job.” Avoid evaluating just personality in lieu of job skills. I didn’t have time to read the resume, but he has great answers.”

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Startup Statistics Summary Writing 92

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

If you have not seen the Firm’s recent music video entitled I’m A VC , take a moment to watch it now – it will give you a window into Brad and Jason’s respective personalities and the degree to which they do not conform to the stereotypical stick-up-the-ass venture capitalist. Things I Loved. Don’t Email Carpet Bomb VCs. No Often Means No.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

InfoChachkie

MAY 27, 2013

Geo was a lightly veiled reference to Geocities, a Web 1.0 On March 28 I randomly thought of the idea, pitched it to the team and got an immediately positive response. What’s the fun in a joke that only one person knows about?". We didn''t ask people to tweet it, they just did. Don’t Over Sell It.

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Customer Custom Template Startup 195

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Make your pitch. Startup Fundraising: Pitching. This goes beyond the basics of practicing your pitch and anticipating questions. This will help you tailor your pitch. So develop a thick skin and don’t take it personally. You know the steps to startup fundraising: Target potential investors. Get warm introductions.

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Startup News Invest Entrepreneur 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Influencers are inundated with requests for their time and have to develop filters of whom they trust and therefore who can refer them deals. I point out this subtlety because it is precisely the subtleties in life the determine ordinary performance from extraordinary.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

If you sell a product direct to a customer – in person or on the phone – you need to understand what their pain points are and position your product benefits against those pain points. Their goal is to get you to appear in person at city roadshows that they run or to come to their annual Dreamforce conference. Why Buy Anything?

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From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Ask any venture firm or accelerator which investments get done in their shop and they will tell you the deals that come through their personal network. At Kline Hawkes & Co, the venture firm where I worked for 14 years, the “personal relationship” deals comprised approximately 90% of the entire portfolio.

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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. I had kept a personal blog for more than a year and was new at keeping a professional blog. You have an “hour” to pitch in your first meeting. My blog was wiped out.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Ask any venture firm or accelerator which investments get done in their shop and they will tell you the deals that come through their personal network. At Kline Hawkes & Co, the venture firm where I worked for 14 years, the “personal relationship” deals comprised approximately 90% of the entire portfolio.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 40

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor. Make sure to reference check with other portfolio companies. How have they behaved in good times and bad? Are any strategic investors better than others?

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Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur Framework 279

InfoChachkie

MAY 27, 2013

Geo was a lightly veiled reference to Geocities, a Web 1.0 On March 28 I randomly thought of the idea, pitched it to the team and got an immediately positive response. What’s the fun in a joke that only one person knows about?". We didn''t ask people to tweet it, they just did. Don’t Over Sell It.

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Customer Custom Template Startup 153