I often hear entrepreneurs express concern about not owning a majority of the stock in their company. Typically they’re worried about losing control as they give away equity to expand their team, secure partnerships and raise capital. Crossing the half-way point in the company seems to be a scary milestone for some founders. In practice, [...]
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OK – maybe nobody feels bad for VCs. But if you were to be empathetic for a minute and ask an early stage VC to vent about their job, one of the first things that you’ll hear them gripe about is feeling overwhelmed. Since the typical VC invests in only 1 out of 100 of [...]
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We’re excited to announce another company to the Interplay mafia: ProductGram. ProductGram is a cool new mobile-first ecommerce play that is just about to launch. While they’re not quite in market yet, today they’ve started to allow folks to reserve handles. If you’re a technophile who cares about your digital identity, you’ll want to grab [...]
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Many of the world’s best entrepreneurs are bad at fundraising. At first, I didn’t understand why, since the skills used in fundraising are many of the same skills used to create businesses. Over time, however, the reason these athletes underperform became clear. They don’t possess a fundamental understanding of the fundraising process. They have the skills, but not the knowledge.
My mission in writing this book is to illuminate the fundraising process so that engaging these venture capitalists is no longer like walking in the dark.
I will provide a detailed account of both the key steps in fundraising and the rationale behind them. The information should help entrepreneurs see through the eyes of the venture capital investor, enabling them to better understand motivations of investors and how best to engage them.
“A practical guide from someone who has seen thousands of pitches - read it to get the inside track on how to get funded with the least amount of pain.”
, ."This is VERY CLEAR!"
, ."This book is a clear step-by-step guide to the funding process and a great reference for founders preparing for that rite of passage."
, ."The Fundraising Rules should be required reading for entrepreneurs raising a round of capital. These tools will increase your odds of successfully getting funded, raising the right amount of money at the right valuation, and starting off the relationship with your investors in the best possible way."
, .
I breathe startups. Most of my closest friends are my business partners and a day painting a whiteboard is only second to a day with my family.
I’m addicted. I’m a serial founder & investor. I’m the Founder of Interplay Ventures, a co-founder of Kohort, Venwise, DevSpark, Founder Shield and a Venture Partner at High Peaks Venture Partners.
Here are some mottos I live by:
I think I’m having an impact. My blog has reached enough folks to garner the attention and Business Insider who listed me as one of the 100 Most Influential Digital NYers. I’ve also been included in the CVC30 – a list of the 30 most interesting members of the Columbia University startup community. This blog has been syndicated or cited on Inc.com, Mashable, Business Insider, OPENForum, AlwaysOn, PEHub, ReadWriteWeb, The Wall Street Journal and others.
As for interests, I really enjoy brainstorming new ideas, tinkering with new technology, listening to pandora, boxing, documentaries and an occasional game of rock band.
I am married to my college sweetheart Laurie and have a daughter named Avery.
