Venture Capital Articles
The Cost of Not Raising “SmartMoney”
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. Actually, that's an...
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The Secret Recipe for Raising Smart Money
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 company. It...
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How to Raise “SmartMoney” in the Shark Tank
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 have your pitch down...
read moreHow to Be the “Deal to Get”
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 startup where we...
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Do You Want to be CEO or be Rich?
Entrepreneur's put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into launching their startups. So it's understandable that they may not want to relinquish control as the company grows. But the question they should be answering is, "Do I want to be CEO, or do I want to become...
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How to Screen Investors in Your Startup
So, you've started a company and hit the ground running with a group of happy customers. Now it's time to raise investment in your startup, so you start to screen investors. Or do you? If you're like many first-time CEO's, the answer is that you probably don't....
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Top Reasons Why Your Investor Pitch Is NOT Compelling
Perhaps you've been frantically trying to raise money for your startup, but you can't figure out why your investor pitch isn't working. If that's the case, join me on a quick elevator ride so that I can help you. You probably know what an elevator pitch is. It's a...
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