Neither Your Product nor Your Idea is Fundable
Sunday, 14 August 2022
How do I sell a startup that has a validated solution yet neither users nor revenue? Among the primary FAQs within startup incubators and of advisors, is how do I get my product funded? You know the question through the variety of ways in which it emerges: How do I raise startup capital for my
- Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Startups
32 Comments
New Business or Startup? It Matters
Friday, 01 July 2022
I’ve been the “Grumpy Get Off My Lawn!” about this over the years and tend to just roll with the people who are adamant that words are interchangeable, feeling that it’s not worth pushing when people want to say one thing can mean another. Of what have I been grumpy? Words matter. An investor in
- Published in Insights / Research, Startups
Raising Capital: The Process is a Flywheel
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Our year has started with a flood of curiosity about Venture Capital not just in how to raise funding but in consideration of how funds work, what it takes to get a job at a venture capital firm, and whether or not VC is broken or needs to change. Certain of 2022, given the recent years of
- Published in Raising Capital
How Funding Startups is Like Betting on Horses
Monday, 09 August 2021
Last week, a bit of a controversial, but thought-provoking, perspective about Venture Capital caught the attention of a lot of my readers and followers. There has been a horrific rash of *VC Bad* propaganda and misinformation lately, sparking my thought that people are being misled about the what Venture Capital is and does. That, entrepreneurs are frustrated
- Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Startups
“Venture Capital Destroys Value” – What??
Wednesday, 04 August 2021
The conversation recently had started, “Why do venture capitalists invest in startups if many of them are losing money and destroying value?” and I had to pause when I heard the point of view because I couldn’t even rationalize how someone thinks that way. Then of course it dawned on me that lately there has
In the Company of Venture Capital
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
People have different definitions of “startup” and “venture capital,” and it’s that foundation that causes frustrations and misplaced expectations. What Frustrations in Venture Capital? The real reason founders are not funded VCs don’t say in a pitch process Why Venture Capitalists Aren’t Funding The Businesses We Need VCs like to take their time with their
- Published in Startups
Asked: What Stops VCs from Investing in Foreign Companies?
Monday, 25 January 2021
Nothing, it happens all the time. Yet, the question is common, frequently asked; begging a question its own – what are startups struggling with that they think that foreign investors won’t invest? Start with this appreciation: investing in startups is the riskiest use of capital, in the world. Gambling at a casino is more likely
- Published in Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Regional Development, Startups