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Startups raising funding should bring customer engagement, if not traction, to the pitch. Founders raising funding often compensate for the lack of customer engagement through distractions. Here’s how to tell when the startup doesn’t have anything: Revenue is only listed as a forecast with pipeline sales. Key metrics are based...

Limited partners are referred to as LPs.  They invest in venture capital funds. Just as angel investors make mistakes, so do LPs Here’s a list of LP investing mistakes: Not investing consistently. It’s easy to invest when the market is up and difficult to do so when the market is...

Part of the fundraising documentation is the financial pro forma. Investors want to know what the founder proposes will happen if they raise the target fundraising amount. The financial pro forma shows this projection. Here are some tips on building your startup financial pro forma. The pro forma should be...

Venture capitalists make mistakes just like every other investor. Here’s a list of mistakes VCs make: Not investing consistently through the market’s ups and downs. Valuations are better in down markets, and good deals are hard to find in up markets. Treating venture capital funding as a one-size-fits-all. There are...

While venture capital brings many benefits to the startup ecosystem, it also has drawbacks. Here’s a list to consider: The venture model generates a high number of startup failures. By pushing the business to the extreme, many fail. The standard for venture-backed businesses is very high. The cost of venture...

For the first pitch to an investor, build an introductory pitch deck. The introductory version of the pitch deck simplifies your deal into its most basic presentation. The pitch deck should focus on one problem, one solution, and one application.  It should have one product, one channel, and one monetization...

Venture capital brings innovation and growth to many industries. The VC model provides funding to startups to innovate and provide new products and business models. VC funding seeks out innovative ideas that are scalable. Scalability enables startups to transform the industry. The tech industry uses venture capital to fund new...

Investors review the startup founder’s pitch to determine if it’s worth pursuing or not. Most startup pitches follow the same model of problem, solution, and how it works. The team, traction, competitive advantage, and business model follow. The pitch closes with the financial forecast, the investment ask, and the exit...

The pitch deck is the key communication tool in startup fundraising. Here are the key steps on  how to organize your pitch: Start with a one-liner on your business. State what the business does in a short and concise sentence. This provides the basic context for the presentation. Next, identify...

In launching a startup, the watchword is minimal. Minimum fund raise, minimum team, minimum viable product. The CTO is a key component of the startup team. Start with a fractional CTO rather than a full-time hire. Here is what a fractional CTO does: They advise on the project rather than...