The Founder Initiative

Atlassian Ventures & others just invested $12.5M in Allstacks; learn from founder Hersh Tapadia on how he did it

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's it like to raise a round right now? Learn what Hersh did to close a $12M Series A. Companyon Ventures, Atlassian Ventures, and CreativeCo join...

Fiat Ventures, General Partner, Drew Glover: sharing your GTM tests and strategies in your deck

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

- sharing your GTM tests and strategies in your deck - getting creative with your GTM and how to share that with investors

Adam Burrows, Founder of Range Ventures: competitor response, VC updates, and common red flags during due diligence

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

- How to respond to -- "Why is Microsoft not going to do this?" - How to do VC updates, and common red flags during due diligence - Investment break...

[$450M AUM] Ridge Ventures, Partner Yousuf Khan: don't overlook the power of nailing your story

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nail your story - you have heard this before, BUT it is the most important thing you can do Go deep with the problem in a verbal pitch Work with VCs t...

Raising $70M in a downturn in 6-weeks; Matt Danna, CEO of Boulevard

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

- Don't raise, unless you have to - Get ready for 2x as many follow up questions - Get ready for 2x as many representatives from the VC on the call - ...

Why they invested in Paccurate - SpringTime Ventures, Matt Blomstedt; case studies, customer calls, & sharing your weaknesses

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Timing matters Investing is best...when you have time to watch them operate False sense of urgency Customer calls Don’t downplay

[$42M raised] Onramp's Founder, Eric Youngstrom: how they closed $42M; multiples & investor timelines

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Youngstrom shares how they closed $42M. He dives into how he thinks about valuations and where he spent his time during the raise. #SimilarToEnte...

[#1 on Product Hunt] Gated's CEO, Andy Mowat, raised millions by prioritizing branding

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Learn how Gated raised millions by prioritizing branding, manifestos, and investor newsletters.Here exactly what he did!

Monta Vista Capital; Sameer Chopra: Founders, are you going to return their fund?

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

LEARN - How a VC evaluate a company that they actually invested in - The top thing to consider in your pitch

Pitch Review: Mayfield's ($2.2B AUM) Partner, Rajeev Batra, shares top trends & analyzes a founder's pitch

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Learn: 1. Top three trends Rajeev is investing in now 2. How to improve your pitch 3. What VCs are saying about you after the pitch

YC Founder; Applying & How They Raised $5M With No Deck; Promoted.ai's CEO, Andrew Yates

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew raised $5M from YC and others without a deck... Biggest learning -- He shares how they structured their YC application

YC Founder Just Closed $5M: echo3D's CEO, Alon Grinshpoon shares his winning deck

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

See a deck that Alon used to close $5M from top VCs in a difficult macro environment.

Bain Capital & Battery Invested: Fulcrum's Founder, Sunny Han - moving from pitching to evaluating

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Acknowledge the fear but move from pitching to evaluating They were funded by consulting projects before burning the boats and raising money You know ...

$400M+ AUM, Defy.vc's Bob Rosin; why, when & how to get the best angel investors

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

- Who are the best angel investors for your cap table?- How he considers definability as you solve a big and hard problem

Dcode Capital; Nailing Your VC Empathy

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Live in the shoes of a VC for one day, and it will change how you fundraise as a founder.

Aircover's Co-Founder & CEO, Andrew Levy: Facetime-Still-Matters

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Building relationships within the startup and VC community is key to raising a successful round in the future. Relationships aren't supposed to be tra...

Bling Capital's Eric Theis & Charlie Pinto on oversubscribing your next round

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to hear what they look for in a pitch and what to avoid. Hint - brevity is your friend ;)

Paperstreet's Founder: 2 Things To Consider In Your Updates

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Investor updates can help you build relationships with VCs who aren't investors, yet.

$18M+ Raised, Duy Vo, CEO of Productfy; lead with your strength and be vulnerable

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Being vulnerable and staying true to yourself will help you find the investors that really want you.

$81M Raised, Klue's Founder shares questions to ask VCs during a pitch

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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.

DocSend's Head of Research shares the importance of sharing your organic story

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When you're just starting, all you have is your team. VCs emphasize team experience the most when reviewing decks.

$588M AUM, OUP's Principal, Manny Stockman shares the importance of simply picking up the phone (not Zoom)

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Calling to set up a meeting can be the most efficient way of outreach.

$350M+ AUM, Touchdown Ventures's Alex Nwaka shares the importance of getting back-channel feedback on your deck

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Incrementally send your decks to VCs so you can constantly improve it, rather than sending it to every VC all at once.

$3M Raised & 15 Angel Investments: CEO of NachoNacho, Sanjay Goel Shares His First Principles In Fund Raising

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Being genuine when sharing your risks with investors builds real trust rather than creating false trust with hype.

$80M Raised, Rewind's CEO, Mike Potter: The Power of Oversharing With Investors

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sharing all your data from the start will save you time and help you filter the VCs that are genuinely interested.

Fellow.app's CEO, Aydin Mirzaee: Seek-100x-ROI

08 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Make sure your company's vision aligns with the VC's ultimate goals to ensure an effective and lasting partnership.

WeFunder's VP of Fundraising, Jonny Price: Community-Rounds?

03 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Letting your customer base invest will help expand your network and increase customer enthusiasm.

Realworld's Founder & CEO, Genevieve Bellaire: Consuming Investor's Content

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Using a VC's social media presence can help give you an idea if their general views align with yours.

WeFunder's Founder in Residence; Adam Roberts talks about tandem-investing

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Using crowdfunding and syndicates to expedite the fundraising process.

Forum Ventures's General Partner, James Murphy: Predestined-Investor

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 info...

$19.5M Merge's Founder, Gil Feig - Getting Pre Customer Commits & Showing In Your Deck

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Using 'committed' clients as traction can be sufficient for firms to know that there is a market for your product.

$77M Hatch Card, CEO Thomson Nguyen; leveraging micro angles to close a $58M Series B

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With small checks comes big networks and expertise. Expanding your cap table to include passionate investors of all sizes can help you grow your netw...

Launch Ventures's Ray Walia on Non-fungible tokens

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Using NFTs to build an involved and active community around your growth.

Techstars MD, Amos Schwartzfarb; raising 2-rounds in advance

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Building relationships for future rounds can help to build trust - the most crucial element needed for a VC.

New Enterprise Associates (NEA)'s Partner, Andrew Schoen: Never-Cold-Outreach-A-VC

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Warm introductions from a portfolio can make your company instantly credible and much more heard.

How to raise $750k on crowdfunding

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Using the group of people who built and supported your startup - your customers - to raise a round through equity crowdfunding.

How to oversubscribe a $3M round using 'Investor Blitzing'

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Kuli Kuli's Founder & CEO, Lisa Curtis: Update-Your-"No"-List

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 introduc...

Stakester's Founder, Tom Fairey: Serial-Connecting

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Growth is everything. You should broadcast any signal you have of growth to as many VCs as possible.

Amberstone Ventures's Principal, Cessna Mac: Don't-Be-Afraid-to-Say-No

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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.

Be-Like-A-Sith

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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.

Emergent Ventures's General Partner, Anupam Rastogi: Cold-out-reach-works

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Personalize messages for cold outreach when an introduction isn't possible. "Create" warm introductions when you don't have direct ones.

ffVC's Partner, John F Frankel: Decks-are-for-storytelling

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

The Power of a .EDU email

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Using your university's resources and your inexperience as leverage to stand out.

Stacker's CEO, Michael Skelly: Blitzkrieg-Fundraising

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Schedule all key meetings on Monday and Tuesday of the same week to siphon as much excitement as possible. Networking tips to get more pitches.

Red Bike Capital's Partner, Rachel ten Brink: Benchmark-Your-TAM

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you're in a market that is less known, make sure to benchmark your TAM to something your investor understands. Check out Rachel and Red Bike Capi...

Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, Pariti's Global Programs Manager, Iynna Alitiana Halilou: Term-Sheet-101

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How entrepreneurs can gain leverage in the fundraising process when they start to receive term sheets.

Foundation Capital's Partner, Sid Trivedi: VC-Customer-Networks

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Taking advantage of customer networks to better your product and find niches.

$4.8M funding, Macro's Co-Founder & CEO Ankith Harathi: Even-The-Best-Get-Rejected

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Writing 3 different decks, each of different lengths, will capture the right attention at each stage of contact while reaching out. Rejection isn't ...

$107M in funding, Drift's Matt Bilotti's, Product Lead on their Growth Dashboard

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Prioritizing tasks based on impact from real data like unit metrics can lead to greater returns for your company than sorting tasks without any quanti...

Coyote Ventures's Co-Founding General Partner, Jessica Karr: Never-Too-Early

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Creating lasting relationships with VCs no matter what stage you're at.

Sierra Ventures's Principal, Vignesh Ravikumar: Revenue-as-Deodorant

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Choosing the correct market segment and customers is vital to optimizing your revenue for the long run! Learn more about Sierra Ventures -- https://w...

$105M In Funding: CEO of Dooly, Kris Hartvigsen, shares his tactics

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Evaluating a VC's "superpowers" and commitments (besides money) before closing a deal can lead to a more successful relationship down the road.

TechStars - Dubai's Managing Director, Vijay Tirathrai: Authenticity Speaks

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Playing hard to get will never give you an advantage. Being genuine and transparent will.

Boast.AI's Co-Founder, Lloyed Lobo: Dating-Investor-Analogy

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Focus on an authentic relationship and let the money take care of itself.

M6:33 Capital's Managing Director, Erik Fast: Empower-Other's-Values

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Valuing others higher and creating a mutually beneficial connection can help you stand out during outreach.

Gig Wage's Chief Strategy Officer, Ethan Austin: Hyper-Targeting-Investors

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hyper-Targeting investors and increasing authenticity in outreach.

Chingona Ventures's Founding Partner, Samara Hernandez: Traction-Trumps-All

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How unconventional startups can succeed with limited access to traditional resources.

Silicon Matter's Founder, Olga Orda: 3 funding necessities

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

3 things you need for raising money & getting media coverage: 1. super start team 2. story that makes you go wow 3. true market traction

Google's Head of VC & Startup Partnerships, Mark Hall: building-in-public

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How top startups are using a 'building-in-public' strategy to increase adoption.

Brown Venture Group's Dr. Paul Campbell; the economic impact of racial bias

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

$13T = the cost of racial bias to the US economy according to Citi's recent study We must move from doing things "for" to "with"...

Yamaha Ventures VC, Anish Patel: rising bar, $400k - $750k ARR minimum at seed stage

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

#SolidSeedStageTraction - $400k - $750k ARR minimum Focus on the #fundementals Increasing #valuations Wise with #capital

Foundation Capital's GP, Joanne Chen: the rise of ops as a B2B buyer

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past 10 years, there has been a rise in operations as a B2B tech buyer

'The 2% Rule' - Rob Ness

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

General Partner of Asymmetry Ventures, Rob Ness: the biggest contributors to success at the seed stage-- 'The 2% Rule' - obsess and improve the basi...

Nate Williams, Founder & Managing Partner at UNION Labs: the rise of non-technical hires...sooner

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nate Williams, ex CRO of August Home, Inc., former EIR at Kleiner Perkins, and current Founder & Managing Partner at UNION Labs Ventures shares a tren...

CEO of BuildFire, Ian Blair: AI-powered copywriting - they average 250k views/mo.

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Clearscope + Conversion.ai = Turbocharged SEO Ian and his team average 250k site view/mo...not bad for a B2B company

G. Founder of lemist; turned down $30M in funding

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

G., Founder & CEO of @lemist ‎explains how he received & turned down an offer of $30M in funding at a $100M valuation

ex Intel Capital MD, Hassan Miah: event growth strategies still work

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

ex Intel Capital Managing Director & Standford MBA, Hassan Miah discusses his event growth strategy for his neo bank Wicket... Check out his full epi...

David Weekly; Founder & CEO of Medcorder: stop "pitching" investors

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook acquired 1 of his 3 startups, he has done 100 angel investments and raised millions... My friend, David E. Weekly, CEO of Medcorder shares i...

$360M+ AUM, Neotribe Ventures's Managing Director, Aditya Singh: Super SEs

07 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Super SEs" = highly technical sales engineers -- are replacing traditional sales positions #customerempathy

Salesforce's Mathew Sweezey, Director of Marketing Strategy: 'Message to Experience'

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thought Leadership 2.0 -- 'Not a message, but an experience'

$80M+ AUM, Clout Capital's German Fondevila; VCs Want Conversation NOT Presentations

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

- You wouldn't pitch your Doctor, you would first share symptoms and have a relaxed conversation - Don't be tied to the structure of your deck

ex Foundation Capital & Current WestWave Capital GP, Warren Weiss: large customer have increased pressure to work with startups

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How COVID has made it easier for startups to sign big deals with fortune 500 companies! #boom

FreelanceForLaw.com CEO, Brian Bedard; how to use cold calling as an early growth strategy

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

FreelanceForLaw.com is a platform that helps connect Attorneys and Law Firms with freelance legal professionals.

Matik's CEO Nikola Mijic: "Champagneing" --> the best inbound strategy

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matik, Inc.'s CEO Nikola Mijic, shares how their thought leadership series on "How Matik Uses Matik" drove huge inbound traffic!

MARL 5G Accelerator's Managing Director, Amir Khan: investors are prioritizing corporate experience > college dropout

24 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

TREND -- Where did all the college dropout founders go? Advice to 25-year old founder -- Go for it. Fail 1, 2, or 3x. Learn and that experience will...

$850M+ AUM, SOSV's Managing Partner, Sean O'Sullivan: why you must fire bad-fit customers quickly

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Fire your bad-fit customers...remember you're actually subsidizing them if you are an early-stage startup."

Oracle For Startups's, JD Weinstein: Product-Led-Growth & Corporate Startup Partnerships

18 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two ways they help their startups: 1. Enterprise Client Intros - founders can partner with our Account Executives to get introduced to a large client ...

PS27 Ventures, CEO Jim Stallings; Voice Automation For Everything

17 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

'Voice automation is about to be as big as apps in 2011'

$15M+ Funding, DroneSeed, CEO Grant Canary: improve your deck with three tactics

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

#Entrepreneurs add these two things to your deck: 1. Site your sources 2. Loom videos...' if they want to go down the rabbit hole'

HubSpot's Scott Brinker, VP Platform Ecosystem; App Store Optimization

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

'App store optimization is one of the most underutilized growth channels since most SaaS companies are still ignoring it...'

"The Trident" | schedule a meeting with any hard-to-reach prospect; Gordon Droitcour, CEO Syne

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If you are having trouble getting the attention of a hard-to-reach prospect, try the Trident. Thanks, Gordon, CEO of Syne.

Agorapulse CEO, Emeric Ernoult; "SaaC" = speakers-as-a-channel

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

$0 to $4M ARR in 2-years using this strategy... "SaaC" = speakers-as-a-channel

Yamaha Ventures VC, Rebecca Woodcock; Aspirational Health

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Healthcare System Evolution = Sick Care Behavior Influence *Aspirational Health*

Founder & MP at Resolute Partners Group, Kevin Lutz: SPACs...the music is still playing

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Thank you Kevin Lutz, Founder & Managing Partner at Resolute Partners Group, for sharing your perspective on SPACs.

Yariv Ganor, Startup Psychologist with Sheba Tel HaShomer City of Health about Founder Psychology

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

@Founders, do you talk to your co-founders more than your spouse/partner? (I know I did!)

Sanjoy Roy, Co-Founder of AskSid.ai a Techstars company

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"CCAI" -- chatbot-conversations-as-insights "When a user has a discussion with a chatbot on your site, don't let those insights go to waste..." Sa...

HearstLab's VP, Lisa Burton O'Toole; corporate <> startup partnerships

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here are a few lessons for other corporate accelerators from Lisa Burton O'Toole, VP of HearstLab 1. Focus on startups you can IMPACT rather than tyi...

Simultaneous Meal Delivery + Zoom? --> Andy Scott, Partner at Advantary

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Three ways to overcome the siloed nature of WFH: - Meal delivery -- order sushi for everyone and have it delivered at the same time - Drink delivery -...

Techstars, SVP Ecosystem Development, Chris Heivly

22 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Techstars, SVP Ecosystem Development, Chris Heivly - 'in 3-10 years, there will be 2x more venture capital outside of the Valley than inside...' Shou...

Nathan Porras, Product at Brilliant ($21M total funding)

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Average PMs = tell their teams what to build Great PMs = share the WHY behind the feature

Ryan Pokrasso, Founder of SPZ Legal; more favorable terms for stock options

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Check out Ryan and his team at SPZ Legal. They are one of the best boutique law firms in Silicon Valley. 

Sean Sheppard, Founder of GrowthX Fund: 'the new formula' for pre-Series A investing

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

'the traditional venture model is broken for pre-Series A investing...but we cracked the code' SOLUTION: "We have a simple clause in our LPA that all...

2x Founder, David Mandell and current Managing Director at Massive & Partner at The Fund

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

- Separate your anxiety-driven emotions that seek short-term gain - Play the long game...

ex SVP Marketing at Indiegogo turned investor, Christian Busch

03 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is why we will likely be back in the office by mid-late summer... "Most companies will not be able to prove that productivity has increased by h...

2x Successful Founder, Shreesha Ramdas on Angel Investing

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After selling companies to SAP & Medallia, Shreesha Ramdas is now a successful angel investor. "Bet on the team" - Have the founders been working to...

$21M in Funding, MetaCX, Co-Founder Dave Duke

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What is one of the most important roles of a startup founder? - Maintaining a big vision from day one - Projecting your vision consistently - Keepin...

Comradery > NDAs: Daniel Hallawi, Managing Director of H1 Family Investment

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Comradery NDAs Daniel Hallawi, Managing Director of H1 Family Investments, one of the largest family offices in Australia, is seeing more comradery,...

Nathan Beckford, CEO @Foundersuite; Close Your Round Before "Officially" Announcing The Raise

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

CEO of Foundersuite.com, Nathan Beckord has seen this trend recently... 1. Build a target list of investors & make initial connections 2. Tell them w...

Is there a formula to getting funded?

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here is what, Alan Brody, CEO of Startupalooza found after decades of research. Make sure to check out his book The Formula! (YOUR IDEA + POSSIBLE OU...