Startup founders are passionate about their product. They can recite the feature list, technical specifications, and future roadmap backward and forward. Yet, when it comes to early-stage sales, founders often fall into a trap: mistaking product enthusiasm for selling expertise.…
I recently met with one of our portfolio CEOs to discuss the product roadmap. We had blocked time to dive into features, timelines, launch dates, and go-to-market plans. But before we touched a single post-it note or roadmap tool, I…
Why Startups Should Stay Focused, Even With Millions in the Bank
There are companies we don’t even know, haven’t been started yet, their names aren’t known, might be extraordinarily big winners in the AI thing. AI is a much bigger landscape, opportunity landscape, than all the previous technologies we have known…
“Organization is the foundation of success.” – Andrew Carnegie As a founder, one of the key tasks in raising capital is to effectively communicate the value of your company to investors. In my post “YC’s guide to series A” I…
After spending months and maybe years looking for product-market fit, you now proudly got a product and are ready to go to market. However, after a few weeks of trying to make customers fall in love with what you’ve…
Last week LinkedIn reminded me that it's been 9 years since I started VC Cafe (Dec 2005). Several people sent their congratulations (thank you btw), and it reminded me it's been a while since I blogged regularly. I prefer springing into action rather than being sentimental, but I thought a little summary and a selection of highlights may inspire someone who is thinking about blogging to share their thoughts through this medium.
Lessons from David Truong on how to nail the first business development meeting for startups. If you're not finishing the meeting super excited for the next steps, you're doing something wrong.
You're probably familiar with the 60's bestseller by Dale Carnegie, or at least you've heard of it. He's main point is "Interested is interesting!". The best way to get people to want to connect with you is to show interest in them. We're all selfish creatures, or so it seems.
Funding is never easy. Even when you hear stories about entrepreneurs who walk out of a VC with a personal check from the managing director, it is usually after 6 months of pitching and hearing 'no'. This is the story by Yaniv Nizan from Soomla, who raised a round from 7 investors and lived to tell the tale.
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