The Killer Startup Pitch Deck VCs Can’t Ignore!

The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 3: The Killer Startup Pitch Deck VCs Can’t Ignore! Welcome back to Part 3 of our Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising. If you missed the previous posts, I highly recommend you read through those first before continuing. The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 1: Understanding Investors 101:...

How to Build Impact Businesses that also Make Money

Founders can change the world and still profit in the process There’s a growing trend in startups to actually give a shit, to make something that unlike the next photosharing app, actually makes the world a better place. Call this milleniallism, call this common sense… whatever it is, it’s a good thing. Whether it’s TOMS,...

Why Blockchain Token Liquidity is a Bad Thing…

As a technologist and angel investor, I am very interested in blockchain. The ability to rewrite the internet and operating system of trust has massive economic, political and societal implications. This convergence creates opportunities. What is Liquidity? Liquidity is defined as a market’s ability to purchase or sell an asset without causing drastic change in...

Why Innovators Need to Start Dreaming Bigger and Bolder

VCs Need to Stop Funding Nonsense We all only have so much time in this world — whether you live to 50, 80 or 153 (like I’m shooting for) — our time is limited, and so too is our impact. And like life expectancy, our impact is directly proportional to our beliefs. Said another way:

The Memorable Elevator Pitch that VCs Can’t Ignore

The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 2: The Memorable Elevator Pitch that VCs Can’t Ignore Welcome back to Part 2 of our Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising. If you missed the previous post, I highly recommend you read through those first before continuing. The Ultimate Guide to Startup Fundraising Part 1: Understanding Investors 101: The...

 Why Your Startup’s J Growth Curve is Actually Just an S

Two days ago I had the privilege of moderating a roundtable with some of the smartest futurists and forward thinkers in the industry. Our panelists included Tim O’Reilly, James Allworth, Ben Gilbert and Jeff Morris Jr. It was an interesting experience. They say you are the average of the 5 people in your life and...

Uber is Going to Zero and Benchmark Knows It!

“Moving first is a tactic, not a goal….It’s much better to be a last mover.” — Peter Thiel On the surface this seems contrarian. When is being last better than being first? Steve Jobs understood this. Apple didn’t make the 1st MP3 player or the 1st smartphone. Yet in consumer tech, Apple is synonymous with both. That was no accident....