“I’ll See It When I Believe It,” Entrepreneurs and Startup Investors Put Conviction Before Cash Flow
Thursday, 11 September 2025
That tired phrase has been responsible for more missed fortunes than bad timing or bad luck. It’s the refrain of cautious uncles, small-town bankers, and risk-averse executives who prefer their innovation the way they prefer their wine: aged, tested, bottled, and priced at a predictable markup. But in the world of entrepreneurship, that order of
- Published in Insights / Research, Raising Capital
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Bootstrap or Raise Capital: How to Decide What’s Right for Your Startup
Monday, 01 September 2025
If you’re like me, it might have been Labor Day in the U.S., and it was a beautiful one here in Austin, not putting in any work is more or less impossible; besides, entrepreneurs throughout the world were working and so with the focus on work, I couldn’t help but put thought to this frequently
- Published in Raising Capital, Startups
Your Startup Pitch is Bad; Let me Explain How I Know
Thursday, 27 February 2025
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been pushing us to question traditional startup methodologies such as lean startup or how venture capitalists discern investments, through an exploration with you of First Principles Thinking and the Bell Mason Diagnostic. In fact, I’m not inherently a detractor of either, rather frequently advocating that founders need to
- Published in Raising Capital
A Startup Pitch is NOT a Sales Pitch!
Monday, 24 October 2022
More than half the pitches I heard this past week went like this, and I want to share this to stress how significantly you should understand how this is NOT a good pitch if you need investors: 1. This is our solution2. This is how it works and all our great features3. We’ve sold it
- Published in Raising Capital
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 Venture Capitalists Venture
Monday, 07 January 2019
Did you know? Venture Capitalists get paid to manage others’ money. If someone is investing directly in your startup, and they know and love the space, having more supportive than capital based intentions, call them an Angel Investor. If someone is directly investing in your business and they want to see customers and focus on
- Published in Startups
Pitch Slap – How Your Attempt to Get Your Startup Funded is Failed by Your Pitch
Wednesday, 22 June 2016
You take the stage, perhaps at a demo event or perhaps even in a smaller sense, with an Angel cattle call, group of investors, or even with the press. You’ve been practicing in front of the mirror for weeks the pitch designed for you by the local incubator, crafted after Guy Kawasaki’s famous 10 slides,
- Published in Raising Capital
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