For most founders, the deck is a cornerstone of their seed fundraising process. Unfortunately, most decks are terrible. They’re often difficult to understand, too detailed, or missing key details. …

For the first time in my ~20 years in tech, everyone I have spoken to in the last 10 days, has first mentioned the same thing: SVB. Here’s the main questions about the SVB bank collapse, that I have seen this week. Should we move money back to SVB? I see lots of public support for this…

Today, we’re talking about launching your beta to small groups. 1. I advise against releasing your beta to the entire waitlist. You will get the same feedback from almost everyone and will likely throw away a lot of potential customers due to the problems they encounter. 2. Instead, break down the beta launch into small groups of 5–10 people, even less for enterprise software. Launch to a small group, collect feedback, iterate, and then launch to the next small group.

There’s often a lot of confusion from founders around why one particular startup was able to raise a seed round easily, whereas another struggled. Here’s what investors at the seed stage are usually looking for: Team What: First and foremost, seed investors want to see a strong team. Successful serial entrepreneurs…

Today we are talking about the absolute basics of sales and marketing. 1. Marketing is all about how people initially find your product. There are at least 10 different, well-used ways to reach customers, but most startups should begin with direct outreach, asking for advice. …

In this month’s Founder Spotlight, we’re putting the spotlight on Sasha Orloff, CEO of Puzzle! How did you come up with the idea for Puzzle? Has it changed along the way? Puzzle was born out of a combination of 3 things… 1. As a founder, I wanted real-time financials and metrics! It turns out after interviewing 100+ other founders, they also wanted it too. We were tired of…

When you have an innovative technology, it certainly makes your pitch stand out! In the latest Pitch Practice, I walk Cattle Scan through different ways they can take their pitch to the next level. Here are a few takeaways from their pitch: #1. Great case study and use of real photos 📷 #2. Clearer and simpler market overview and problem 👓 #3. Make size of problem a $ value upfront 💲 #4. Focus on one benefit 🔍 #5. Simplify competition slide 🎯

Today, we’re talking about focusing on engagement when testing your beta version. 1. At this early stage, engagement is more important than revenue or distribution. Why? Because we need to know if anyone will actually use our product before we worry about money or getting the word out. 2. If a customer is reliant on your product, they need it. So they will have to pay you, and they will very likely refer you to others. So engagement is the best route to revenue and distribution.

Don’t underestimate the power of a passionate delivery in your pitch! In the latest Pitch Practice, Stephanie Daniel of Legends provides a great example of getting this right. Here were the takeaways: #1. Slide design was spot on 🖌️ #2. Simplify one-liner 〰️ #3. Make sure slides are fullscreen 🖥️ #4. Don’t forget to include the cost of problem 💰 #5. Focus on one use-case 🔍 Which takeaway do you find to add the most value from this session? Share your thoughts in the comments!