Tag: venture capital

3 Downsides of Venture Capital—And How to Avoid Them | All Business

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Raising money for your business can be great. Many entrepreneurs see it as validation that they’ve “made it.” While it is a good sign that a professional investor has kicked the tires on your company and is willing to invest their money, there are some downsides to venture capital that might mean that raising venture funds is not the right path for you.

Sure, there are many advantages of securing a round of investment from a “value-add” partner. It can open the doors to important introductions, kick-start a business into high growth, and even refocus a business for success. But not all venture funding stories have such happy endings. There are, in fact, times when a business might encounter more negatives than positives when accepting venture funds.

To avoid this path, there are potential scenarios in which venture capital is a major drawback:

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Looking for Venture Capital? Avoid the 3 Biggest Pitch Deck Mistakes | AllBusiness.com

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Most entrepreneurs know they should avoid the obvious mistakes when creating their pitch deck: pitch is too long or not clear, it says there are no competitors, etc. But what a lot of first-time entrepreneurs do not know is what venture capitalists are actually looking for.

In a way, VCs are like clients. You’re trying to sell them on your idea and vision for your company in exchange for their investment. That means you need to understand what they are looking for. Your customers will not buy from you if your product does not solve their problems. And if your business does not meet a VC’s minimum criteria, they will not invest in you. It’s just that simple.

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Is Education Technology Where Women Are Starting To Buck The Tech World’s Sexist Trends? | Co.Exist

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

3043779-inline-women-edtech-inline-2The landmark San Francisco trial between iconic venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and Ellen Pao, the woman who did not become partner, may be over. But its repercussions—and the quest to fix sexism in Silicon Valley and, by extension, the technology industry—are ongoing.

Venture capital may be one of the toughest areas to be either female or a minority—and at the technology high-fliers that are their favorite investments, it isn’t much better. Women made up only 11% of founders in the most recent class of lauded tech incubator Y Combinator.

But in the geeky boys’ club of tech, education tech may be one of the few slightly more bright spots where female founders and CEOs are showing up—and staying the course—in greater numbers.

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28 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Pitching to Investors | AllBusiness.com

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Entrepreneurs from early stage startups have to pitch to investors to raise financing, and many entrepreneurs are inexperienced or terrible at making the presentation. As a venture capital and angel investor who has heard many pitches, I’ve compiled a list of mistakes and things to avoid if you are an entrepreneur seeking angel or venture financing.

Mistake #1: Sending me your executive summary or business plan unsolicited.

Investors routinely discard or don’t read unsolicited emails. They get hundreds if not thousands of such emails, and they can’t spend the time sifting through them all to find that diamond in the rough. But what they will pay attention to is a referral from someone in their network — a lawyer, an entrepreneur from one of their portfolio companies, or a fellow venture capitalist.

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4 Tips for Pitching Your Business in 2 Minutes | Inc.com

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Doing a two-minute investor pitch can be incredibly daunting. Here are tips to hone your pitch and get the next meeting.

Two minutes. You probably wait longer for your coffee at your local shop.  Two minutes can seem like a very short time, unless you’re on in the hot seat, facing four investors and an entire audience, asking for funding. At that moment, time goes by like lightning. Last month at a local pitch contest, I saw two presenters lose precious time when they lost their train of thought in the middle of their two minute pitch.

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The Enemy is Us | The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on Venture Capital Investing

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The Usual Suspect

In “WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY… AND HE IS US” , Lessons from Twenty Years of the Kauffman Foundation’s Investments in Venture Capital Funds and The Triumph of Hope over experience no detail is spared in a direct, unflinching look at how a $2BN, entrepreneurial foundation under performed the S&P 500 through group think and the willingness to be lead.

A long read, and somewhat technical, but truly worth the time. It makes a lot of what we’re seeing make sense.

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Y Combinator, TechStars: Investor Mentorship and Leverage Outweigh Capital | Fast Company

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“You’re starting to see a trend of investors having to work harder to convince founders that they should be able to invest in that company,” he explains. “There is very much early-stage capital available for startups–many are getting involved in angel investing, and lots of traditional VCs are too. Founders are now asking investors, What are you going to do? Why should I take your money over the other angels? On a day-to-day basis, why is having you in my company going to be a good thing? These are questions that people never asked before.”

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