Venture Hacks

Summary: The most common question we hear from entrepreneurs is, “Can you introduce me to investors?” Yes we can. We’re going to recommend startups on Venture Hacks. Investors are invited to subscribe to our recommendations. And everyone is welcome to recommend startups here. Request an invite if you want to help test the Recommended [...]

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Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about advisors. If you have additional questions, email us at ask@venturehacks.com.
Table of Contents
General (answers follow)

What do advisors do?
Should I put together a board of advisors?
How do I get good advice?
How do I apply advice?
How do I find advisors?
How can I tell if an advisor is any good?

Compensation [...]

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Summary: Here are 3 microhacks for finding a lead investor: (1) If followers have good reasons to not lead, ask them for introductions to potential leads. (2) If you’re early stage, find seed investors who invest in people and high risk startups. (3) If every prospective investor says “we don’t know the market,” find investors [...]

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“Those kind of ‘sit on the sideline’ investors are worthless to you if you want to get a financing done… if you are raising a financing of any kind, spend all of your time looking for a lead investor.”
— Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures
Summary: Financings happen when you find a lead investor, negotiate a term [...]

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“I know plenty of VCs that behave the way I do and plenty that don’t.”
— Brad Feld, on keeping decks to himself
Summary: A deck can help you get a meeting but it can also get in the hands of the competition. Whether you send a deck depends on who wants the meeting most. If you [...]

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Summary: Don’t send long business plans to investors. Don’t ask for NDAs. Don’t share information that must remain confidential. Understand that investors care about traction over everything else.
In Parts 1 and 2 of ‘What should I send investors?’, we covered the elevator pitch and deck. In this article, we present a few dos and don’ts [...]

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“PowerPoint plans greatly increase your chance of getting a term sheet, or at least the dignity of a quick no.”
— David Cowan, Bessemer Venture Partners
Summary: An introduction and elevator pitch are critical to getting a meeting. You can also provide a “ten-slide” deck that tells a compelling story about your team, product, traction, and plans.
A [...]

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“Summarize the company’s business on the back of a business card.”
— Sequoia Capital
Summary: An introduction captures an investor’s attention, but a great elevator pitch gets a meeting. The major components of the pitch are traction, product, and team.
If you’re building an interesting company, people will offer to introduce you to investors—it makes them looks good. [...]

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