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
110. Using CDFIs To Get From Zero To One feat. Brandon Brooks @ Zinsu
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Did you know there are hundreds of organizations, paid for by the federal government, that exist just to help people create businesses? Even better, many have fun…
109. Bootstrapping, Plan B Is Another Way To Make Plan A Work feat. Brandon Brooks @ Zinsu
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Two stories of bootstrapping in two minutes. If you're going to bootstrap your business, listen to the advice from Brandon.
Follow Brandon Brooks on Twitter & Li…
108. Early Believers Are A Lightning Rod feat. Brandon Brooks @ Zinsu
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Don't waste time trying to convince non-believers, find your true believers.
Follow Brandon on Twitter & LinkedIn for updates.
About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime …
107. Founders Outside the Lines feat. Brandon Brooks @ Zinsu
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Brandon Brooks is the founder of Zinsu, a platform to make the funding process easier for everyone. He's also the founding partner of Overlooked Ventures. Prior t…
106. Be You
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Investors have to believe in you. Don't fake it, don't hide it. Be you.
About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fint…
105. Lean Into It
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You cannot possibly over-rotate when trying to compensate for something that you're not.
About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups i…
104. VC Minute on Substack
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Join us on Substack where Allyson Plosko from the SpringTime Ventures team is writing a bi-weekly newsletter about fundraising.
https://vcminute.substack.com/
About…
103. Talk To Your Slides
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You know your business so well, that you personally don't need visuals to explain it. But your audience doesn't share your knowledge.
About SpringTime Ventures
S…
102. Founder Intros
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A venture fund's most trusted source for referrals is its portfolio. Stand out from the crowd by getting an introduction through a fellow founder.
About SpringTime…
101. Toxic Myth of Entrepreneurship feat. Alex Raymond @ Conscious Entrepreneur Summit
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If I'm a CEO, I need to be cut-throat.
If I'm a CEO, I need to be serious all the time.
If I'm a CEO, I need to be Type A.
If I'm a CEO, I need to never show vulner…
100. About The Conscious Entrepreneur Summit feat. Alex Raymond @ Conscious Entrepreneur Summit
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The Conscious Entrepreneur Summit was created to build a community of people who are entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs who are committed to their personal growth,…
099. How To Deal With Burnout feat. Alex Raymond @ Conscious Entrepreneur Summit
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How do you recognize signs of your own burnout?
What do you do about it?
Go on vacation? Probably not. Vacations are great and needed, but burnout is something de…
098. The If-Then Mindest Trap feat. Alex Raymond @ Conscious Entrepreneur Summit
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"IF this thing happens, THEN I'll be happy."
How many times have you fallen into the If-Then Mindset trap?
What If-Then trap can you let go of right now?
About Th…
97. Confronting Imposter Syndrome Kicks Off A Journey feat. Alex Raymond @ Conscious Entrepreneur Summit
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This week, we're putting the focus back on you, the founder, and your wellbeing. This is timely. Not only because it's hard out there right now for startups but a…
096. Filling The Pool After The First Investor Is In feat. Dama, CEO @ Manatee
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Not only do you need to be persuasive to fill out the pool, but you should use your current investors, especially strategic ones, to help you close the rest of th…
095. One Thing To Optimize For When Choosing Investors feat. Dama, CEO @ Manatee
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Sometimes your choice is between taking any money and running out of money. In those cases you can't be selective. But if you can optimize for one thing with you …
094. What Is Your Weak Point in Driving Conviction With Investors? feat. Dama, CEO @ Manatee
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What I love about this advice is that Dama found her weak point in her pitch and leaned into it.
I'd be willing to be that if you leaned hard into your pitching w…
093. What To Do Differently On A First Fundraise feat. Dama, CEO @ Manatee
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What would Dama do differently on her first fundraise?
Three things:
- Iterate on her pitch based on feedback and "no's"
- Understand that VCs gossip with each other - …
092. Fundraising Is Hard feat. Dama, CEO @ Manatee
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Last year, Dama, the CEO of our portfolio company Manatee, pulled a fundraising rabbit out of her hat. It's funny to hear her say she's bad at fundraising because…
091. Having Someone in Your Corner
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Why do you get a lawyer? It's because you need a guidepost and you need someone who's going to help you navigate the parts of your business you don't even unders…