by J.D. Davids | Sep 9, 2016 | Business Planning, Management, Venture Capital
It’s scary enough to jump off a cliff, but why would anyone attempt to also assemble an aircraft on the way down? In essence, that’s the question that LinkedIn founder, Reid Hoffman, put to an audience at the recent Global Entrepreneurship Summit....
by J.D. Davids | Sep 7, 2016 | Angel Investors, Venture Capital
“We’re very interested.” Most CEO’s would love to hear that phrase when trying to raise money from a venture capitalist. It’s promising, right? I don’t think so. Here’s why. Put yourself on the investor side of the table for a...
by J.D. Davids | Sep 5, 2016 | Angel Investors, Business Planning, Venture Capital
I’ve been fortunate in my career to have been involved with many very successful businesses. Businesses that became acquired or went public and generated huge returns to investors. But, I had one experience that…well…didn’t turn out so well....
by J.D. Davids | Aug 25, 2016 | Angel Investors, Business Planning, Venture Capital
I’d like to share two secrets I’ve learned from my 25 years and over a billion dollars in deals completed. First, it always takes longer than the entrepreneur thinks, especially when raising that first, second, or third round of capital for the startup...
by J.D. Davids | Aug 10, 2016 | Angel Investors, Venture Capital
A key to success in pitching SmartMoney investors is how you prepare. Once you’ve built your target investor list and scheduled a meeting it’s time to do some serious homework. When you’re in a meeting with the sharks, it’s not enough to just...
by J.D. Davids | Aug 8, 2016 | Angel Investors, Venture Capital
In this article I described a direct method for getting investors to meet with you. That approach works great, but an even better approach is to have investors seek you out because you’re perceived as the “deal to get.” I was CFO of one particular...
