Every Pitch that Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
I was at an “Allocators Conference” this week in Miami for a project. The idea of an allocator conference was new to me. It’s speed dating for investors to meet investment funds. The “allocators” are from family offices, pensions, and large investor to find new investment options. It’s not startups pitching their companies. See the
Read MoreHow to do a Monthly Investor Update
How to do a monthly investor update for Startup Founders.
Read MoreDeciding to Pivot your Startup
This was originally posted on WXR Fund Blog, cross-posted with permission. Recently, the WXR team hosted a virtual seminar for our current cohort of founders. The seminar featured three seasoned entrepreneurs who discussed the ins and outs of pivoting a business. Here are some highlights of the invaluable insight they shared. Deciding to Pivot All
Read MoreReview of 2017 and 2018 Goals
I’ve never been great about New Year’s Resolutions – but I’m a fan of goals. Goals can be a challenge because we set unrealistic goals at this time of year and miss them early. So while we feel defeated, we end up giving up on the bigger picture, the reason for the goal in the
Read MoreDon’t be Disappointed with your Startup Ecosystem. Change it!
I had a great opportunity to speak at Startup Spokane last night. Thanks to Megan Hulsey @StartupSpokane and Brady Ryan @UWCoMotion Spokane’s office for the invitation. One of the things I’ve noticed and it hasn’t changed since I was traveling as SVP of Programs at UP Global (Startup Weekend + Startup America) there is a
Read MoreSeattle Startup Week – Pitch Clinic
Seattle Startup Week is an annual event to help entrepreneurs navigate the Seattle Startup Ecosystem in five days. Finding resources, meeting people, visiting coworking space and meeting investors. Techstars purchased UP Global in 2015 and these programs that I helped launch globally became part of their community programs. These slides are from a Pitch Clinic
Read More8 Observations – Halfway through the 100 Book Challenge
I’ll admit, when Dan Rossi and I started discussing this idea of reading 100 books in 2017 it was New Years Eve and we were on the second bottle of wine! I had read a recent post of from Brian Sanders Medium post that had read 200 books in a year. That seemed like such
Read MoreStartup Team Formation: Mentors, Advisors and Early Team Members
How much equity should you give early team members and why? This list includes mentors, advisors, board members and potential co-founders in your startup? I’ve personally had challenges on this front and find it an area that benefits from experience (read as mistakes). I know I’ve both over-asked for equity in early days as well as
Read MoreMy Favorite Tools and Plugins
I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about what tools and tricks we collectively use to get sh*t done in our lives (thanks to @ShaunaSwerland for the inspiration). I lean toward tools for startups/research/task management. If I was a Developer it would include things like GitHub. So I thought I’d post a list and
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