Venture Hacks

“Your first stop if raising money!” – Adam Smith, Founder of Xobni

We’re excited to share our first book with you: Pitching Hacks. It’s all about pitching startups to investors. 83 pages of beautiful PDF. We used to charge for this stuff but now it’s free.

We’ve raised $100 million for startups like Epinions, invested another $20 million in companies like Twitter, and advised many others. Pitching Hacks shows you how to apply the simple lessons we’ve learned along the way.

Many successful investors and entrepreneurs, such as Marc Andreessen, David Cowan, Brad Feld have also generously contributed passages sprinkled throughout this weighty tome.

Check out the free samples above and email us at help@venturehacks.com if you need any help. Thanks!

(Unsolicited) Testimonials #

“Your first stop if raising money!” – Adam Smith, Founder of Xobni

“My guess is that I’ll be recommending it to everyone who asks me for fundraising advice.” – Jonathan Grubb, Founder of Get Satisfaction

“I loved the book! I suppose it should be no surprise that a book about articulating ideas clearly and concisely, has managed to clearly and concisely articulate its ideas.” – Aaron Iba, Founder of EtherPad

“Almost every sentence in Pitching Hacks is a valuable nugget. I thought the book was *awesome*, and definitely up to the high standard of quality that you’ve already established in your blog.” – Travis Leleu, Industrial Interface

“Pitching Hacks is amazing, just packed with great practical advice. A must-read if you’re even thinking of raising money.” – Luke Groesbeck, Founder of JobAlchemist

“I really truly liked the book. Entertaining and informative read. Can’t say that about a lot of business-related books.” – Yokum Taku, Wilson Sonsini

Outline

Traction

What is traction?
Traction speaks louder than words

Introductions

Why do I need an introduction?
Who makes the best introductions?
Who makes the worst introductions?
How do I get an introduction?
What should I send middlemen?

High-Concept Pitches

What’s a high-concept pitch?
What makes a good high-concept pitch?
Why should I write a high-concept pitch?
Aren’t high-concept pitches too simple?
From incoherent to high-concept

Elevator Pitches

What’s an elevator pitch?
Why should I craft an elevator pitch?
Dissecting the elevator pitch
Elevator pitches with bullets

Decks

What’s a deck?
The best deck template in the universe
Tell a story with the slides
Format your deck

Business Plans

A sales pitch is not a business plan

NDAs

Can I get investors to sign an NDA?
Pros and cons to sending a deck
Your deck can get in the hands of the competition
When to send a deck