$400M+ AUM, Defy.vc's Bob Rosin; why, when & how to get the best angel investors
- Who are the best angel investors for your cap table? - How he considers definability as you solve a big and hard problem
Jun 14, 2022•16 min•Ep. 99
The Founder Initiative
Helping founders hit product-market fit, get funded & stay up-to-date.
(Formerly TheTop.VC)
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Episodes
Dcode Capital; Nailing Your VC Empathy
Live in the shoes of a VC for one day, and it will change how you fundraise as a founder.
Jun 07, 2022•16 min•Ep. 98
Aircover's Co-Founder & CEO, Andrew Levy: Facetime-Still-Matters
Building relationships within the startup and VC community is key to raising a successful round in the future. Relationships aren't supposed to be transactional, they are built over time mutually.
May 24, 2022•13 min•Ep. 97
Bling Capital's Eric Theis & Charlie Pinto on oversubscribing your next round
Listen to hear what they look for in a pitch and what to avoid. Hint - brevity is your friend ;)
May 03, 2022•17 min•Ep. 96
Paperstreet's Founder: 2 Things To Consider In Your Updates
Investor updates can help you build relationships with VCs who aren't investors, yet.
Apr 12, 2022•10 min•Ep. 95
$18M+ Raised, Duy Vo, CEO of Productfy; lead with your strength and be vulnerable
Being vulnerable and staying true to yourself will help you find the investors that really want you.
Mar 29, 2022•12 min•Ep. 94
$81M Raised, Klue's Founder shares questions to ask VCs during a pitch
Showing a VC how they may need your startup's services can be the most convincing way to convey that there is a need for your product.
Mar 22, 2022•10 min•Ep. 93
DocSend's Head of Research shares the importance of sharing your organic story
When you're just starting, all you have is your team. VCs emphasize team experience the most when reviewing decks.
Mar 15, 2022•8 min•Ep. 92
$588M AUM, OUP's Principal, Manny Stockman shares the importance of simply picking up the phone (not Zoom)
Calling to set up a meeting can be the most efficient way of outreach.
Mar 08, 2022•9 min•Ep. 91
$350M+ AUM, Touchdown Ventures's Alex Nwaka shares the importance of getting back-channel feedback on your deck
Incrementally send your decks to VCs so you can constantly improve it, rather than sending it to every VC all at once.
Mar 01, 2022•11 min•Ep. 90
$3M Raised & 15 Angel Investments: CEO of NachoNacho, Sanjay Goel Shares His First Principles In Fund Raising
Being genuine when sharing your risks with investors builds real trust rather than creating false trust with hype.
Feb 22, 2022•12 min•Ep. 89
$80M Raised, Rewind's CEO, Mike Potter: The Power of Oversharing With Investors
Sharing all your data from the start will save you time and help you filter the VCs that are genuinely interested.
Feb 15, 2022•7 min•Ep. 88
Fellow.app's CEO, Aydin Mirzaee: Seek-100x-ROI
Make sure your company's vision aligns with the VC's ultimate goals to ensure an effective and lasting partnership.
Feb 08, 2022•13 min•Ep. 87
WeFunder's VP of Fundraising, Jonny Price: Community-Rounds?
Letting your customer base invest will help expand your network and increase customer enthusiasm.
Feb 03, 2022•8 min•Ep. 86
Realworld's Founder & CEO, Genevieve Bellaire: Consuming Investor's Content
Using a VC's social media presence can help give you an idea if their general views align with yours.
Feb 02, 2022•9 min•Ep. 85
WeFunder's Founder in Residence; Adam Roberts talks about tandem-investing
Using crowdfunding and syndicates to expedite the fundraising process.
Feb 01, 2022•8 min•Ep. 84
Forum Ventures's General Partner, James Murphy: Predestined-Investor
You'll know after a pitch who really wants to invest, and playing games with them won't help. Making your pitch easy to digest, with all needed information on it, will help VCs think when they're reflecting on your pitch. Don't sell yourself short. Aim for an addressable market over $10 billion.
Jan 26, 2022•8 min•Ep. 83
$19.5M Merge's Founder, Gil Feig - Getting Pre Customer Commits & Showing In Your Deck
Using 'committed' clients as traction can be sufficient for firms to know that there is a market for your product.
Jan 18, 2022•6 min•Ep. 82
$77M Hatch Card, CEO Thomson Nguyen; leveraging micro angles to close a $58M Series B
With small checks comes big networks and expertise. Expanding your cap table to include passionate investors of all sizes can help you grow your network, strengthen your relationship with your customer base, and have a long list of real people to fall back on.
Jan 11, 2022•7 min•Ep. 81
Launch Ventures's Ray Walia on Non-fungible tokens
Using NFTs to build an involved and active community around your growth.
Dec 08, 2021•11 min•Ep. 80
Techstars MD, Amos Schwartzfarb; raising 2-rounds in advance
Building relationships for future rounds can help to build trust - the most crucial element needed for a VC.
Dec 01, 2021•4 min•Ep. 79
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)'s Partner, Andrew Schoen: Never-Cold-Outreach-A-VC
Warm introductions from a portfolio can make your company instantly credible and much more heard.
Nov 16, 2021•31 min•Ep. 78
How to raise $750k on crowdfunding
Using the group of people who built and supported your startup - your customers - to raise a round through equity crowdfunding.
Nov 10, 2021•10 min•Ep. 77
How to oversubscribe a $3M round using 'Investor Blitzing'
Schedule all pitches far in advance so you can put them within a few days of each other. This creates a "blitz" effect that builds noise and makes you more competitive with each firm.
Nov 03, 2021•8 min•Ep. 76
Kuli Kuli's Founder & CEO, Lisa Curtis: Update-Your-"No"-List
Sending sophisticated quarterly updates to VCs who are not yet ready to invest may get them to rethink their decision, or even just help with introductions and small favors down the road.
Oct 26, 2021•5 min•Ep. 75
Stakester's Founder, Tom Fairey: Serial-Connecting
Growth is everything. You should broadcast any signal you have of growth to as many VCs as possible.
Oct 20, 2021•12 min•Ep. 74
Amberstone Ventures's Principal, Cessna Mac: Don't-Be-Afraid-to-Say-No
You don't need to accept the first offer you're given. Saying no can show your conviction and help you hyper-target the best fit firm.
Sep 23, 2021•6 min•Ep. 73
Be-Like-A-Sith
Having the person with the vision (the CEO,) and the person in charge of the execution (COO or CTO,) will be the most effective pitch duo.
Sep 14, 2021•7 min•Ep. 72
Emergent Ventures's General Partner, Anupam Rastogi: Cold-out-reach-works
Personalize messages for cold outreach when an introduction isn't possible. "Create" warm introductions when you don't have direct ones.
Sep 07, 2021•7 min•Ep. 71
ffVC's Partner, John F Frankel: Decks-are-for-storytelling
Using your deck to "tell your story" Respecting VC's time can lead to more success than trying to over converse with them. Giving investors what they want is better than trying to be radically different.
Sep 02, 2021•9 min•Ep. 70
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