Founders and Fundraising
How Do You Tell Investors Why You Will Beat Your Competitors?
“They brought up companies we didn’t even know existed,” Mike, the managing partner of the venture capital firm where I was an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR), said in our debrief after a startup pitched us. Everyone was impressed with the CEO, the company, and we decided to continue forward with the investment. Do you want…
Read MoreHow Do You Start A Business With No Money?
“How am I going to raise $2 million,” “Casey” asked me. “I don’t know anyone who can give me that money.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “You know more people than you think,” I said. “I’ve been down this road a few times, and the other entrepreneurs…
Read MoreHow Do You Keep Your Startup From Being Undercapitalized?
“How long is the new funding going to last you?” I asked “Sam.” Sam said, “About one year.” [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “That’s not long enough,” I replied. You really want your funding to last eighteen months. Ideally, you’d like your funding to last two years. “Why…
Read MoreHow Do You Evaluate A Potential Technical Co-Founder?
I considered a lot VP Engineering/CTO candidates before Jeroen agreed to join me as co-founder. The candidates were the good, the bad, and the ugly. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] There were a lot of near misses where the fit just wasn’t there or something wasn’t quite…
Read MoreHow Do You Deal With A Broken Co-Founder?
“Tell me about your background,” I said to “Jim.” “John,” my co-founder who recommended Jim to me as our VP Engineering, and I were having lunch with Jim at Bucks. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Bucks, for those of you not living in the Silicon Valley, is…
Read MoreHow Do You Build Credibility When You’re Raising Money?
“What you did was incredible,” the associate at the venture capital firm, “Donald Ventures,” said to me. “I’ve never seen anyone handle ‘Raul’ like that.” Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. We were walking out of a diligence meeting at DV’s office on Sand Hill Road. This meeting…
Read MoreHow Do You Build A $1B Startup?
“With this next round of funding, we’re going to valued at $1.5 billion,” “Ray,” a CEO I’m working with, said to me the other day. Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here. “That’s awesome!” I said. “Congratulations. I remember how hard it was at the beginning. You’ve come a…
Read MoreHow Do You Raise Money And Not Lose Control Of Your Business?
There is this false belief that the way to keep control of your company as an entrepreneur is by owning a majority of the stock or creating special classes of stock so you control the voting rights. The concept is pretty is simple: You control the votes, so you can’t be voted out of being…
Read MoreHow Can You Ruin Your Chances With Investors?
“I know that guy,” I whispered to Dave, the partner that was looking at the deal. It was the first meeting our venture fund was going to have with, what we thought, was a very promising company. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] “Who is he?” Dave whispered…
Read MoreDoes Experience Help You Or Hurt You As A Startup CEO?
I used to love watching Roger Federer play tennis. He looked like he was gliding across the court. And, no matter how hot it is, the guy never sweats. Never. [Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.] Then, there’s his polar opposite, Blossom’s favorite player, Rafael Nadal. Before he…
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