VC Minute
Quick advice to help startup founders fundraise better. Founders, do you feel like you're fundraising on an uneven playing field? You are. The VC minute is here to help you level up. Venture capitalists navigate pitches and negotiate investments every day. They know the ins and outs and are up-to-date on the current funding environment. But as a founder, it may be your first foray into fundraising, and no matter how much success you've had in other areas nothing truly prepares you for the fundraising journey. The VC Minute was created to help founders close this gap. While it may seem like securing an investment at the seed stage is mostly driven by luck, there are steps founders can take to increase the odds of successfully raising a round. And that's what we're going to cover on the VC Minute through a series of short episodes. I'm going to share with you insights to help navigate the seed stage financing dynamics. I'm Rich Maloy, Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures with 25 years business experience a dozen years in the startup ecosystem. I've applied my experience from sales, finance, and venture investing, to help startup founders fundraise better.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 2 minutes
- Episodes
- 275
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2024
250. Get Intros, Set Meetings, Create a Tight Feedback Loop
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Block out three weeks just for initial investor meetings to create a tight feedback loop. Put all of your focus into getting as many meetings as possible in those…
249. Before Going To Your Full List, Start With Friendlies
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Organize your VC target list into: Friendlies, A-List, and everyone else. Start by pitching your friendlies to get raw VC feedback.
About AVL Growth Partners
AVL G…
248. Top Fundraisers First Build Their Lists
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Before you send a single email, build a list of 200+ target VCs. Here are four sites you can use for free.
signal.nfx.com
Openvc.app
connect.visible.vc
findfunding.vc
…
247. You Need a Term Sheet Before Thanksgiving
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There are 14 weeks between now and Thanksgiving. If you don't have a term sheet by then, you're not going to get one until Q1 next year.
About AVL Growth Partners
…
246. Summertime Slowdown
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In fundraising, the end of June is a lot like the end of November. If you don't have a term sheet on the table, you're not going to get one in the next month.
Abo…
245. Love Your People feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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The title of the book is not about romantic love, it's about instilling a love for the work within your organization.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gardner
Love…
244. The Authoritarian Approach vs. Loving Your People feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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If you can become a great leader, people will dig deeper for what they're building. An authoritarian approach will drive people away from your startup.
About “Lov…
243. Start Building a Culture of Innovation Now feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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A culture of innovation that is tied into your vision and team goals will drive success throughout the organization.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gardner
Love …
242. Hiring Great People feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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You're not going to hire the right people every time. Increase your chances by learning the "Who" methodology by Geoff Smart.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gard…
241. Live By Your Core Values feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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Live by your core values, without exception. Because any one exception will undermine those values to everyone.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gardner
Love over …
240. Key to Enabling Autonomy for Founders feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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It's not just you, enabling autonomy is hard for all founders.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gardner
Love over fear is the key to exceptional leadership. 'Love …
239. Importance of Clear Expectations feat. Jeff Gardner, author of Love Your People
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After you have articulated the vision, break it down into clear expectations for each individual. Done right, this will create autonomy.
About “Love Your People” b…
238. Three Components of Setting the Vision feat. Jeff Gardner author of Love Your People
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The vision for your startup needs to come out of your head and be articulated to you company.
About “Love Your People” by Jeff Gardner
Love over fear is the key t…
237. Jeff Gardner, Author of Love Your People
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SpringTime partner, Jeff Gardner, released a new book, "Love Your People" that shares his insights through years of successful startup growth, turnarounds, and ex…
236. Don't Fundraise, But If You Do Be Ready for Due Diligence feat. Tom McGrath, CEO @ iink
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Why would Tom self-fund or limit fundraising if he could? It can distract from the business
iink is the best way for home restorations professionals to get paid af…
235. Priced Rounds Clean Cap Tables feat. Tom McGrath, CEO @ iink
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Stacking SAFEs gets messy, vs. priced rounds that clean cap tables. And having more investors can benefit you because they can make introductions to other investo…
234. Trying to Tell Everything In the First Meeting feat. Tom McGrath, CEO @ iink
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Two common mistakes: trying to tell everything in the first meeting, and not finding your painkiller solution.
iink is the best way for home restorations professi…
233. Changing CEOs feat. Tom McGrath, CEO @ iink
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If the CEO's job is to fundraise, what do you do when the best fundraiser on your team isn't the CEO? What iink did was change CEOs.
iink is the best way for home…
232. Bootstrapping Your Investor Network with LinkedIn feat. Tom McGrath, CEO @ iink
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Despite not having a network of wealthy people that could invest in his startup, Tom built that network himself leveraging service providers, LinkedIn, and highly…
231. Seed Crust: What to Expect from 2024
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After digging through the data, I lay out my expectations for the rest of the year.
Seed Crust: State of the Seed Market 1H 2024
Most startups at Seed are circling…