Too often, investors and entrepreneurs think of themselves as being, “on opposites sides of the table.” Raising capital is a negotiation that regularly pits investors against entrepreneurs (and vice versa). This adversarial relationship is quite common, and the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs (many people describe it as a marriage) regularly falls apart. Sure, when […]
Launching Year One Labs – An Early Stage Seed Accelerator
Today is a big day. After 6 or so months, I’ve launched my new startup: Year One Labs. Year One Labs is an early stage seed accelerator that will help fund and build startups, primarily in the web and mobile spaces. Although we’ll be in the business of helping others launch their startups, Year One […]
It Doesn’t Matter How Much Money You’re Raising, It’s Still Hard
Things certainly feel frothier these days. More and more companies are raising money, and valuations seem to be skyrocketing. But even in stronger economic times (we hope!) and bubblier eagerness to put venture and angel capital to work it’s still extremely hard to raise financing. And in many cases the amount of money you’re looking […]
4 Ways to Align Interests Between Startup Founders and Investors
Are investors and startup founders on the same side of the table, or the opposite side? A: Depends. When things are going well, everyone feels like they’re on the same side of the table. When things are going not so well, it’s a different story. This is the reality of the startup-investor relationship. It’s not […]
Use of Funds
Almost every investor pitch, whether to angel investors or venture capitalists involves one slide near the end about how much money a startup is looking to raise, milestones it hopes to achieve and generally, the “use of funds.” The intent behind describing the use of funds is to explain to the potential investors how you […]
An Introduction to Pitching Investors
Kudos to the students at McGill University for putting on some great events. I’m a big fan and advocate of anything that bridges the gap between students and startups. I was invited to speak along with Daniel Drouet at an event entitled, “The Perfect Pitch”. I’m not sure such a thing exists, but I was […]
No One Can Raise Funding for Your Startup Except You
One of the big roadblocks that first-time entrepreneurs face is the issue of raising capital. There are no easy answers. But one thing is certain, the only person that can raise financing for your startup is you. There are enough high quality resources out there on raising venture capital and angel investment. And there are […]
Using Mega Trends When Pitching Your Startup
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “mega trends” and how to use them when pitching your startup. Investors like mega trends. After all, they’re big. And most of us are aware of them and have been affected by them (or expect to be in the future). Tens of millions of baby boomers getting set […]
Don’t Try to Get Funding Before You Know How It’s Done
If you don’t know how the process works to raise capital and get funding from angel investors or venture capital investors, you will never succeed at raising capital. What this means is that if you feel like raising angel investment or venture investment is critical for the success of your business, you need to go […]
Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees
Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. His company had just closed an early round of funding and he wanted to cement the employee relationships. I gave him similar numbers to what I had been given when I was hiring the first few employees for […]
Founding Partner at 