How to Close VCs? Importance of Investor Updates.

Most investors don’t close right away. In fact, it typically takes 4 updates before an investor commits. Many startups simply fail to send updates and therefore don’t close deals.

For all the investors in your pipeline, be sure to follow up every 3 to 4 weeks with the following progress report:

SALES – What sales have you closed in the past month? What’s in the pipeline for next month? Read more...

Riding a Wave of Hype: Blockchain, AI, VR & More

My friends at Angel Camp visited us today, and we discussed how to invest in startups. One of the best questions was how do you know if a tend is worth investing in or overhyped?

MY ANSWER: Don’t bet on the trend alone. You need to look deeper. You need to analyze what value the startup is creating for their customers. It’s not enough to be using a new technology like AI or blockchain. Read more...

Should You Raise Venture Capital for your Startup?

Before forgoing venture capital, I want you to honestly ask yourself these questions:

• Do you like the idea of living off of rice and beans for years?

• Do you mind slaving shoulder-to-shoulder with underpaid, sweaty teammates in a space far too small?

• Can you handle the endless nagging of concerned friends and relatives?

• Are you skilled at begging?

• How about convincing your team to stick with it and not to get real jobs? Read more...

Captain Hoffman: How to Become a Unicorn Start-up

As an entrepreneur and an investor, do you often ask yourself: what is the difficult part of being creative? When will my innovation be profitable? And is it really the idea that lies at the heart of entrepreneurial success?

Read Full Article

Cap Tables Made Easy as Pie

You’ll like this new cap table tool…

https://captable.io

Build and share your cap table, conveniently and securely in the cloud. Create and issue stock classes and convertible instruments.

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Convertible Notes: How They Work & What You Need to Know

I tried to put all the basic resources in one place…

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Convertible Note Seed Financings
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/07/convertible-note-seed-financings/

How Convertible Debt Works
http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2011/10/how-convertible-debt-works.html

Orrick Convertible Note Term Sheet Creator
https://tsc.orrick.com/

Convertible Note Template
http://www.docracy.com/2740/convertible-note-term-sheet-template

Why Convertible Notes Are Sometimes Terrible For Startups
http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/05/why-convertible-notes-are-sometimes-terrible-for-startups/

Revisiting Paul Graham’s “High Resolution” Financing
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/09/25/revisiting-paul-grahams-high-resolution-financing/

Is Convertible Debt Preferable to Equity?
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/08/30/is-convertible-debt-preferable-to-equity/

Series Seed is a Viable Option
http://www.seriesseed.com/ Read more...

Here’s a Nice Sample Investor Deck

I Put $100k into My Startup and Now I Want to Raise Capital from VCs — Should I Treat this $100k as a Loan? What’s Fair?

If your startup is really hot, investors probably won’t object to having your $100k treated as a loan. However, most investors don’t like the idea of their capital going to payback founder loans. After all, they are investing in the company and want 100% of their capital to be put into growing the business.

With this in mind, it may be in your best interest to consider your investment as a non-reimbursable expense. That’s what investors would prefer. Read more...

Ben Parr and James Altucher

David Cohen, Founder of TechStars, Discuss the Series-A Crunch

The Best Startup Pitch Decks

The Best Startup Investor Pitch Deck
http://bestpitchdecks.com/

Best Pitch Deck Examples on SlideShare
http://bitly.com/bundles/royrod/2

6 Awesome Investor Pitch Decks
http://investorpitches.com/6-awesome-investor-pitch-decks-that-any-entrepreneur-can-learn-from/

The Pitch Deck That Helped A Startup Land $6 Million
http://www.businessinsider.com/seed-round-pitch-deck-tempate-2013-8?op=1

Play it Safe with Y Combinator’s SAFE: Simple Agreement for Future Equity

Every founder should look into the “Safe Financing Documents” by Y Combinator.

http://ycombinator.com/safe/

The Safe (simple agreement for future equity) is intended to replace convertible notes in most cases, and we think it addresses many of the problems with convertible notes while preserving their flexibility. In addition to being simpler and clearer, we intend the safe to remain fair to both investors and founders.

These are new, so not all investors accept them yet. But they will eventually become a viable alternative to traditional convertible notes. Read more...