3 Great Reads on Startup Investing
These three posts ticked the box (imho) as a “must-read” because they provide practical, actionable advice. The hard work of finding great advice amongst the noise has been done for you. Enjoy!
Raising Capital for the First Time: Here’s How to Do It Successfully
By Parul Singh, an early stage venture capitalist with Founder Collective
In six straightforward questions, she crystallises the critical questions that founders need to have great answers to in order to attract investment. Realistically, are you venture scale? I often meet founders with awesome small businesses… but that generally isn’t venture backable and while I love what they’re doing, it just doesn’t fit a venture model. Are you right-sizing your fundraising based on fund dynamics? Every investor has an investment thesis and a portfolio construction equation to balance risk – knowing how well (or otherwise) you fit is a pretty strong indication of the likelihood of fit. For the rest of her spot-on points, read the full article here.
The IPO Alternative No One Is Talking About
By David Frankel with Founder Collective
Another great read from the Founder Collective, this one talks about private equity rounds as a liquidity option instead of the M&A or IPO pathway founders tend to focus on. There’s some insight into how the process works. For his tips and cautions, check out the full article.
?Here’s the Result of Over 30 Interviews with 30 Tech CEO’s Over 5 Years Into the Root Causes of Entrepreneurial Failure & Underachievement
By Daniel Batten with Beyond the Ceiling
Failing to nail the pitch is only attributable to 10% of failures. Traditional mentoring only addresses 10% of startup failure root causes. The investor due diligence process only reduces failure risk by 22%. 68% of failure comes down to shortcomings in soft skills. For some crunchy data that unpacks this, dive in to his recent post here.