Check out SmartLing: https://www.smartling.com & their CEO Bryan Murphy https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanmurphy2/ Side note to Founders --> 🤔 VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form 😌 1 (of many) Top Insights From The Episode: 🔑 “Tie your product-market fit journey to measurable outcomes.” - A vague vision isn’t enough. Your product roa...
Jul 01, 2025•25 min•Ep. 159
VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form GUEST: Mark Terbeek https://www.linkedin.com/in/markterbeek/ TOPICS DISCUSSED 1. Founder-Market Fit Is Everything Mark emphasized the importance of a founder’s unique insight and experience into the problem they’re solving. The most compelling cold emails show why this founder is one of one — uniquely suite...
Jun 24, 2025•44 min•Ep. 158
Ajay Prakash, Co-Founder & CEO of Rinse shares his story getting raising $70M and how they launched to hit product-market fit! 03:06 – Ajay explains how he wasted three months pitching Series A firms for a seed round. 05:03 – Don’t try to predict who will write a check — talk to everyone qualified, but do it in a tight time frame to keep momentum and focus. 06:03 – Their first capital came from a rolling friends & family round — with no set close — raising ~$500–600K before institutional...
Jun 18, 2025•52 min•Ep. 157
What if you could get into Y Combinator without a full product? In this episode, Varsha Ramesh Walsh, Founder of Offstream (useoffstream.com), shares exactly how she did just that — with a little traction, screenshots, and relentless customer focus. She breaks down the precise steps she took to validate her idea, iterate fast, and win early customers, even before building a functional platform. Whether you're applying to YC or searching for product-market fit, this conversation is packed with ta...
Jun 17, 2025•7 min•Ep. 156
🎧 Episode Summary In this episode, Gotham Rao—serial founder and now Co-Founder of Neubird (https://neubird.ai/)—shares how he built and sold companies to Pure Storage, Dell, and Citrix before co-founding Neubird. With $40M+ in VC backing, Neubird is reimagining how enterprises troubleshoot production issues using a telemetry access layer powered by AI. We dive deep into Gotham’s founder mindset, the role of gut instinct, why design partners matter more than early traction, and how LLMs can sur...
Jun 11, 2025•7 min•Ep. 155
Peter shares how they confirmed PMF, got funded (after nearly shutting down) and eventually nailed their beachhead. (00:07:52) Decision to start (00:13:05) VC Rejection (00:16:50) Surviving Financial Struggles in Startup Journey (00:30:14) All in moment - focus shift (00:34:16) Break through (00:41:40) Resilience
Jun 04, 2025•43 min•Ep. 154
🎙️ Top 5 Unique Learnings from This Podcast 1️⃣ The “What If It All Goes Right” Test Founders must paint a bold vision for their startup. The VC’s key question: 👉 What happens if everything goes right? Don’t just pitch a product. Sell the future where your solution changes the world. 2️⃣ Pre-Selling = Proof, Not Just Hype Pre-selling (getting LOIs, early orders, deposits) is a game-changer, especially for hardware. It shows there’s real demand—and real cash—before you even build. Pre-selling c...
May 28, 2025•48 min•Ep. 153
🔑 Unique Learnings Fundraising reflects operational discipline—how you fundraise is a preview of how you’ll run your company. Vulnerability is only powerful when it’s paired with credibility. Cold outreach is almost useless without signal. Warm intros from LPs or founders are disproportionately effective. Running a tight, time-boxed process is a hidden superpower. Investment memos are underutilized but highly effective—especially when articulating risks and vision in written form. TIME STAMP (0...
May 22, 2025•23 min•Ep. 152
Want to raise from VCs? Watch this before reaching out. It will give you an edge to close your round. REAL VC PITCH --> - Kevin Hartz, Founder of Eventbrite, now VC A*, and Peter Fitzpatrick, founder of Fawn LEARNINGS 1. How to pitch a VC 2. What are they thinking about you but not saying A* - https://www.a-star.co/ Fawn - https://www.fawnfriends.com/
May 14, 2025•18 min•Ep. 151
Listen to a real VC pitch in Silicon Valley and then go behind the scenes to hear what the VC actually thought... Sid Trivedi is a Partner at Foundation Capital https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddhanttrivedi/, a $6B VC fund in Silicon Valley! Josiah Spartz is the Founder of Cofactory.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsjcs/, an agentic customer acquisition platform! FORMAT 1. PERFECT PITCH - Sid - shares what the perfect pitch would look like for a company in this sector 2. PITCH DISCUSSION - Joey &a...
Apr 23, 2025•12 min•Ep. 150
LEARN --> how they got started & how to impress them in a pitch 1. How does Forum Ventures define its focus? #accelerator #startup 2. Which investment strategies resonate with you at Forum Ventures? #accelerator #growthstrategy 3. In your experience, why is Founder-Market Fit crucial for startup success? #startup #venturecapital 4. What founder considerations have personally impacted you according to Michael Cardamone? #B2B #SaaS
Apr 02, 2024•33 min•Ep. 149
GEN AI summary! #LetsGo Larsen Jensen, a former Olympic swimmer turned investment guru, has an impressive background that spans from the swimming pool to the Navy SEAL teams, and finally to the world of venture capital. His perspective on investment focus on dual-use technologies, which are applicable in both commercial and government sectors, is shaped by his unique experiences and his belief in their transformative potential. Jensen, who now heads Harpoon Ventures, sees these technologies as h...
Feb 27, 2024•20 min•Ep. 148
(00:07:07) Challenges in understanding and managing SaaS applications (00:15:24) Building Meaningful Connections for Startup Success (00:18:13) Data-driven MVP development process (00:23:27) The Power of Community Support in Startups
Feb 06, 2024•24 min•Ep. 147
1. Quitting job, paying the bills and creating MVP 2. Landing first customers 3. Closing a Seed round in 2-months
Jan 23, 2024•18 min•Ep. 146
(00:03:44) "The hardest thing for any founder to do is actually do it...it's really easy to convince yourself that it's stupid and that it's wrong and that your idea makes no sense and that you can do it somewhere else. And almost none of the metrics, if you were to draw a column of pros and cons, you're probably never going to have more pros and cons to start a business. And that, I think, is the biggest challenge, is you have to go against everything you're taught, everything you know, and tak...
Jan 09, 2024•12 min•Ep. 145
LEARN 1. Do I need to send my deck to a VC before a meeting? 2. What questions can I answer, "I don't know" to during a pitch 3. How can I get connected with the right investors? Check out Emil Capital here --> https://emilcapital.com/about-us/ Check out Marcel Bens here --> https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-a-bens-91825b/
Dec 12, 2023•18 min•Ep. 144
Please check out CommandBar --> https://www.commandbar.com/ and James Evans --> https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-evans-7086b3126/
Dec 05, 2023•28 min•Ep. 143
GPT-Powered Summary Igor Ryabenkiy, a successful investor who has backed eight unicorns, recently shared his approach to venture capital investment in startups on the Top VC podcast. In this episode, Igor emphasizes the importance of founders having a clear understanding of their goals, plans, and target market. He also highlights key factors such as scalability, market size, industry landscape, business model, and customer approach that impact his investment decisions. One of the key traits Igo...
Nov 14, 2023•10 min•Ep. 142
Closing a $1M+ round without customers or a product The key was in their analysis of the opportunity.
Oct 26, 2023•20 min•Ep. 141
(00:01:31) Crafting a Compelling Story for Lumber (00:07:08) Drive and Determination in Founders (00:10:19) Founder's Assessment: Market Size, Competition, and Capabilities (00:14:46) The Significance of Grit in Fundraising (00:23:03) Understanding Customer Insights for Successful Fundraising ============ Entrepreneurial Grit, Customer Focus, and Fundraising in Construction Tech Startups In a recent episode of the Top VC podcast titled "Pitching Lumber In," entrepreneur Shreesha Ramdas shares hi...
Sep 26, 2023•27 min•Ep. 140
Zamir Shukho is a seasoned founder and venture capitalist with a wealth of experience in the startup ecosystem, having established 42 accelerators and worked with over 1500 companies... HIGHLIGHTS (00:00:28) Investing in Strong Teams and Tangible Progress (00:02:54) Uncovering Customer Problems and Emotions Effectively (00:05:40) Seed stage Venture Fund specializing in B2B SaaS startups (00:08:18) Navigating Conflict and Geopolitical Challenges as a Founder/VC
Sep 12, 2023•20 min•Ep. 139
Check out Rex and Cambrian! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CambrianHQ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexsalisbury/ (00:00:22) Speed of Execution (00:01:22) Fintech Investing (00:03:40) Building a Community (00:05:20) Time Commitment in Venture Capital (00:14:00) Benefits of running a solo GP firm (00:19:30) Size of Opportunity in Fintech 00:00:22 - Speed of Execution Speed of execution is a crucial factor in building a successful startup, as highlighted by Rex Salisbury, the founder an...
Aug 29, 2023•25 min•Ep. 138
Mike Peregudov shared his experience of overcoming fundraising challenges and offered valuable insights on the importance of a structured process, tailored pitches, and incorporating the company's vision and mission. We'll delve into Mike's journey, practical advice, and data-driven insights to help founders navigate the fundraising landscape.(00:06:35) But this current seed round extension we raised mostly from early stage funds and angel investors and they are not that mission and vision is no...
Aug 15, 2023•17 min•Ep. 137
In this podcast episode, Matt Martin, founder of Clockwise, shares his journey of securing over $75 million in funding and the tactics he used to break through the attention barrier of investors. Adam O'Donnell joins the conversation to discuss the importance of focusing on the inputs they can control and to introduce through email, reach out to VCs on LinkedIn and Mastodon. Whether you're just starting the process or need to refresh your strategy, this podcast provides helpful information and i...
Aug 01, 2023•24 min•Ep. 136
#entrepreneurship #funding #blackfounders #VC #doubt #belief #raisefunds #podcast #TheEntrepreneursJournal #motivation
Jul 25, 2023•14 min•Ep. 135
[00:00:00] Early-stage investing and integrity prioritization [00:03:07] Founder-Focused Accelerator Program Expansion [00:06:17] Integrity in Founders and Venture Capital [00:09:25] Investing in Founders with Integrity [00:12:27] The Value of Due Diligence in Early-Stage Investing [00:15:28] Building a Supportive Podcast Community
Jun 22, 2023•7 min•Ep. 134
Finding Investment Success with Clear Ventures' Rajeev Madhavan Clear Ventures' founder and general partner, Rajeev Madhavan, knows what it takes to succeed in early stage investment. During a recent episode of TheTop.VC podcast with host Adam O'Donnell, Madhavan shared his insights on what he looks for when considering an investment opportunity. Madhavan emphasized the importance of having a strong background in technology. However, pedigree and expertise are only part of the equation. The next...
Jun 13, 2023•18 min•Ep. 133
Join Adam O'Donnell on TheTop.VC podcast as he talks to Dave Fink, founder of Postie, about his experience in raising a reasonable seed round, building disruptive technology, and finding a revenue model to offset costs. Dave shares his insights on how to approach VCs during the fundraising process and emphasizes the importance of having thick skin and a belief in the product. He also discusses the need to focus on the value a business provides and not get bogged down by the noise and risks that ...
May 23, 2023•18 min•Ep. 132
Doppler's CEO, Brian Vallelunga shares how they got Sequoia to invest in their seed round! He shares his experience with Sequoia and emphasizes the importance of understanding that fundraising is a game that requires a strong story, with no pitch deck required. He also discusses Doppler's mission to help developers manage API keys and how every company is becoming a software company, making secrets management essential. With engaging narratives and real-life anecdotes, this episode is a must-lis...
May 09, 2023•23 min•Ep. 131
Introducing TheTop.VC podcast, where host Adam O'Donnell has an exciting chat with Itamar Novick, founder of Recursive Ventures. They discuss how Itamar invests in early-stage startups that revolutionize industries like financial services, insurance, and real estate by leveraging data and machine learning. He also talks extensively about his investment experiences with promising companies like Tomato AI, Clarity AI, and Claire AI. The discussion covers Itamar's successful approach in evaluating ...
May 02, 2023•13 min•Ep. 130
