ARTICLES ON TOPICS ALL FOUNDERS NEED TO KNOW

how venture capital funds work

How Venture Funds Work

Most successful tech startups end up sitting across the table from a venture capital (VC) fund somewhere along their journey. With a little luck, they also enter into negotiations about…

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event networking

Best Practices for Networking at an Event

Founders are regularly told they need to network like crazy in order to be successful.  On the surface, that sounds like going to a bunch of events and meeting a…

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CEO

Extending Longevity for First-Time CEOs

“Do you want to be rich or the perpetual king/queen?” That’s a question an investor might ask a first-time founding CEO. What they’re trying to determine is if the founder…

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land and expand sales

Explaining the Land-and-Expand Sales Strategy

All startups want to maximize their revenue from each customer they secure. But for B2B startups that target enterprises, achieving that swing-for-the-fence maximum with the initial deal is practically impossible….

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messy cap table

Common Causes of a Messy Cap Table

The puzzled look on a first-time founder’s face after hearing an investor’s concern of a “messy cap table” happens more than some probably think.  But what the heck does “messy”…

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Investor Rejection

20 Investor Meetings and No Interest, Now What?

Something is wrong. 20 initial meetings is almost never enough to fully complete a round of funding. But 20 meetings with the right investors should result in at least a…

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BIO

I’ve been advising startups for more almost 20 years.  During that time I have made more than 350 investments in early-stage companies as a venture fund manager and angel investor, and have been involved with raising more than $100 million in growth and venture capital.  From my 28-year career as an operator in high tech companies, I have an IPO and a $200-million acquisition exit under my belt.  Now, as co-founder and chairman of Austin’s Capital Factory and through my content creation practice, Shockwave Innovations, I have the pleasure of spending 100 percent of my time educating, advising, and investing in startups.
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