Fri, 25 April 2025
Best Practices in Telling Your Story Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Storytelling is a key skill in fundraising. Use these best practices in telling your story in the pitch to investors: Declare the problem as the villain in your story. This sets up a conflict. Raise the tension by creating a sense of urgency. Raise your product as the solution to the problem. Spark interest by noting the possibilities of what the solution can do. “What if we could cure cancer with this?” Show the benefits of your solution at a high level. Don’t just predict your growth story, show it happening now. Build confidence in the team by showing what they have done so far. Talk about the solution and what it can do at scale. Describe the big picture about where this is going. Invite the investor to join you on the journey. Investors want to make a return, but they also want to be a part of something great. Use these best practices in telling your story to raise funding.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.best_practices_in_telling_your_story.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 25 April 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin welcomes Herbert to discuss the pivotal role family offices play within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Herbert highlights the importance of understanding local accelerators, venture capitalists (VCs), and other funding sources in the community during the investment due diligence process. He emphasizes that co-investment requests from family offices to VCs are typically more successful than those from individual entrepreneurs, as they signify a commitment and vested interest from the family offices, thus encouraging VCs to engage more readily. Herbert also notes the unique contributions of family offices in supporting emerging managers within the venture capital space, often stepping in to fund those who have yet to build the extensive track records required by larger institutional investors like pension funds or foundations. In the latter part of the episode, Hall introduces Mark Depa of BIO Oxo, a biotech company pioneering innovative treatments for conditions like stroke. Mark pitches their leading compound, BIO 01, which is in phase two clinical trials for treating intracerebral hemorrhage, a type of hemorrhagic stroke. He explains the compound’s unique origins and mechanisms, derived from the saliva of ticks, and discusses its potential to address a significant unmet medical need. Mark also outlines the company's milestones, market potential, and funding strategy, emphasizing the strong backing and promising preliminary data that positions BIO Oxo for substantial growth and impact in the medical field.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 24 April 2025
How Much Funding To Raise Based on Valuation Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In planning the fundraiser, the amount of funding is a key factor to determine. The funding amount should take the company to the next major milestone. It should give the company 18 months of runway at a minimum. Investors expect the valuation to be around 3X to 4X that of the funds raised. Most investors want 20% to 25% of equity for each major round of funding. Therefore, the founder needs to see the valuation be at 3X to 4X the raise amount to account for the dilution. Each deal will vary based on the following factors: Growth rate of the sector -- some sectors are growing faster than others and can command a higher valuation. Location -- some regions offer higher valuations than others. Team -- strong teams with a great track record will command higher valuations than first-time teams. Traction -- those with stronger traction can command higher valuations. Use the 3 to 4x rule to set your valuation and fundraising goals.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.how_much_funding_to_raise_based_on_valuation.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 23 April 2025
How To Wrap Up a Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a pitch to an investor, there’s no need for an agenda slide or a summary slide. The investor knows the format of the pitch and what topics will be covered. There’s little time for summarization of what was covered. To wrap up a pitch, consider the following: Show your contact information, including phone number and email address. Have a call to action so the investor knows what you expect from them. Potential calls to action include let’s set up a call to discuss your questions or join our diligence meeting next week. Most startups end their pitch with a slide labeled “Questions” and little else. Use the space on the last slide to highlight a key value proposition. This could be a call out, such as “We’re the A team working on the B project.” It could be “Come join us in saving the planet from plastic.” It could be a closed sale of a key account, such as “IBM is just the beginning of many companies we will win.” Consider your most important value proposition and place a quote that highlights it. Give the investor something to remember your pitch.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 22 April 2025
Basic Mistakes in Fundraising Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the startup world, there are mistakes founders make in their fundraisers. Avoid these basic mistakes in fundraising Raising less than $250K. In the venture world, $250K is the lowest amount of funding to raise. Below that level, it’s not possible to do something meaningful with the startup. Raising funds from first-time investors. Those who have never invested in startups will require a great deal of education. The investor will need help on terms sheets, standard operating procedures, and more, taking the founder’s time away from other investors. Not setting a minimum investment amount. In the angel world, $25K is a common floor for an investment. Too many investors with $5K and $10K checks can fill up the cap table. Not raising sufficient funding. The fundraising target should provide enough runway to take the company to the next level. Not performing diligence on your prospective investors. The investors will perform diligence on the startup, so the startup should do so with investors. Signing up the wrong investor can create headaches for the founder later. Avoid these mistakes in your fundraising.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 21 April 2025
Basic Due Diligence Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors pursuing an investment in a startup should perform due diligence on the business. The purpose is to evaluate the opportunity and ensure everything relevant is known about it. Here are the basic steps to perform diligence: Market -- this includes the target market and its size and segmentation. It’s important to understand the current state of the market and the competition. Is the market size large and growing, and is the competition fragmented or concentrated? People -- this includes the founder, CEO, and other C-level people. It’s important to know the experience and background of the team. Do they have the skills necessary for the startup to succeed? Financials -- this includes the cash runway, current revenue traction, and fundraising. It’s important to know the startup has sufficient cash and time to achieve its objectives. Does the fundraising match the stage of business, and will it be enough to go to the next level? Product -- this includes the technology base, the core product, and secondary products. It’s important to know the current state of the product, including features, position in the market, and competitive advantage. Will the product win enough customers to achieve the financial forecast? Legal -- this includes the legal entity and intellectual property. It’s important to know what protection the business has and what legal entity it currently holds. Will this give the business enough protection to achieve a place in the market? Consider these basic steps in your due diligence process.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 18 April 2025
Key Slides in Your Pitch Deck Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the pitch, there are specific slides that are key to the investor. Here’s a list of key slides to include in your deck. Problem -- provides the overall context for the startup. It must be a big problem outlined with a few numbers. Solution -- shows the product that solves the problem. It’s important to make clear what the solution is and how you make money. How it works -- shows the product in action with the customer’s situation. Shows how the solution fits into the customer's workflow. Traction -- shows the current status of revenue with customers. It’s important to state the current status as the investor needs to know where the startup is today. Team -- shows who will take the business forward. The team must have experience and be all-in on the startup. Target market -- shows the market the startup will pursue. The market must be large and growing. It’s also important to show where the startup will enter that market. Fundraise -- shows the amount of funding sought and at what terms. The fundraising ask must fit the stage of the company. Be sure to include these slides in your pitch deck.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 18 April 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin talks with Herbert Drayton, a partner at Highmark Capital, about the importance of building capacity before expecting change in the startup ecosystem. They delve into the legwork involved in preparing companies for investor engagement, including managing pitch events, and running marketing campaigns. Herbert shares his insights on the key components that make a startup successful, emphasizing the significance of infrastructure, mentorship, and community support. He discusses how Highmark Capital focuses on investing in AI startups led by underrepresented founders in the southeastern US, mainly in South Carolina. Additionally, the episode introduces Ava, the new AI-powered assistant at 10 Capital that helps entrepreneurs find funding tips and investors locate their next big investment. Ava extracts knowledge from over 500 blogs, podcasts, and tools like the 'How Fundable is Your Startup' calculator to answer user questions efficiently. For more information about the events and resources at 10 Capital, visit their website and poke around the 'Events' tab. Herbert addresses the crucial yet often neglected aspects of creating sustainable investments, such as ensuring the founders are ready to scale and providing them with robust ecosystems for long-term success. He illustrates how successful investment isn't just about providing capital but also about offering the necessary support systems, including mentorship, strategic partnerships, and continuous guidance. This comprehensive approach ensures that both the investments and the entrepreneurs have the foundation needed for impactful growth.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 2025-01-28_Family_Office_Roundtable_Video-001.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Thu, 17 April 2025
Burn Multiple Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Burn rate is the amount of cash spent over and above the revenue received. It’s typically calculated on a monthly basis. Burn multiple is a metric that calculates the capital efficiency of a startup. To calculate burn multiple divide the monthly burn rate by the net new ARR. It shows how much revenue your startup is generating vs dollars spent. The burn multiple shows the efficiency of the business unlike the CAC: LTV ratio which measures just sales and marketing. In most startups raising venture capital the burn multiple ranges from 1X to 3X. Anything below 1x is fantastic. From 1x to 2x is good 2x to 3x is a problem Over 3x is a major problem. Very early-stage companies may have a 3X burn rate because the revenue hasn’t come up yet. At Series A many companies have a 2X multiple. At Series B the burn multiple should drop down to 1X or less. At break even, the burn rate multiple will drop to 0. Check the burn multiple of startups in your portfolio to see if they are tracking for their stage.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 16 April 2025
Pre Seed Seed Seed+ Seed++ Series A Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup funding, the raises come in rounds. The startup can raise a pre-seed round followed by a seed, then a Series A, Series B, and so forth. Many founders view this approach as one step after the other. The reality is there’s a large gap between the Seed and the Series A. Some call this the Valley of Death. This occurs because the startup often moves from family and friends and angel funding to institutional investors. The gap is wide between the two investor types. The funding reality is closer to Seed Seed+ Seed++ another $250K bridge round and then Series A. One strategy is to find bigger and more lucrative customers as you move through the series so you can generate more revenue. This reduces the amount of funding required to reach the next level. Another strategy is to factor this many rounds into your fundraising strategy from the start. Consider the valley of death and how you will cross it with your fundraising planning.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 15 April 2025
The First Raise Is a Minimum Round Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup fundraising, many founders try to raise too much funding in the first round. This causes dilution for the founder as the valuation will be low. In startup fundraising, the first raise is a minimum round. Instead of raising everything you need to accomplish the goals, you should raise a minimal amount to get the initial product up and some revenue coming in. The startup’s valuation will be at the lowest point in the life of the business so it’s best to raise the smallest amount possible. As the startup builds more products, teams, and revenue the valuation will rise. The majority of the funding comes later when the valuation is higher. This strategy reduces the founder's dilution. In structuring your fundraiser consider what can be done to generate the biggest bang for the buck with the least amount of funding. Then add more capabilities to the product and more team members. By tranching out the product features one can reduce the funding requirements.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 02.the_first_raise_is_a_minimum_round.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Mon, 14 April 2025
Valuation Is the Primary Factor Impacting Returns Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are many terms in a startup fundraising terms sheet. Valuation is the primary factor impacting investor returns. Here’s an example showing the impact of valuation on the returns. The pre-money valuation plus the investment yields the post-money valuation. The investor's ownership is the investment divided by the post-money valuation. For example, if a startup is raising $1M with a $4M pre-money valuation that yields $5M post-money. This gives the investor a 20% ownership stake as the post valuation is $1M divided by $5M. In another example, a startup is raising $1M with a $19M pre-money valuation that yields $20M post-money. This gives the investor a 5% ownership stake as the post valuation is $1M divided by $20M. There are terms that can help mitigate an outsized valuation such as a liquidation preference in which the investor receives their original investment first. Of all the terms in the deal, the valuation is the primary factor to consider.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.valuation_is_the_primary_factor_impacting_returns.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 11 April 2025
Consider Dilution in Setting Your Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup fundraising dilution is a key issue for founders. At each stage of funding investors will demand a certain amount of equity. Here’s how much each round will cost a startup in equity: Pre-seed Typically funded by family and friends the cost of funding is 5 to 10%. Seed Angels take 5 to 10% while venture capitalists take 10 to 25%. Seed+ Most founders will need additional funding to carry the business forward. Seed+ rounds cost the same amount as seed rounds. Series A Venture capital investors will seek 15 to 25% of equity at this stage. Series B Later-stage VCs look for 10% to 20% of the equity at this point. Series C and following. Growth equity investors look for 10% to 15% at this level. Consider the impact of dilution on your startup from fundraising.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.consider_dilution_in_stting_your_fundraise.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 11 April 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin chats with Christopher Ezold, partner at Wisler Pearlstine, a Pennsylvania-based law firm specializing in business, employment, and corporate law. Christopher shares insights on emerging legal risks and trends that businesses should prepare for, especially amid economic uncertainties in 2025. Key topics include the importance of securing debt, the complexities of cybersecurity and privacy laws, the rise of labor and employment issues, and the challenges around mergers and acquisitions. Hall and Christopher also delve into common legal missteps that lead businesses into lawsuits and emphasize the significance of proper documentation and early involvement of legal counsel. Christopher explains the nature of fraud, distinguishing between intentional deception and negligence that creates opportunities for fraudulent actions. He recounts complex fraud cases, including one involving a private equity fund's deceptive practices, and shares lessons learned from these experiences. The conversation also touches on the fluid legal landscape of non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, offering advice on how to ensure these agreements are both necessary and enforceable. Christopher highlights various ways fraud can occur within a company, from overvaluing assets to manipulating earnings, and stresses the importance of internal vigilance and thorough investigation. Hall and Christopher discuss strategies for addressing potential fraud or legal violations, from preserving data and starting immediate investigations to understanding the impact and having flexible plans in place. Christopher underscores the importance of having a trustworthy attorney who understands the business and can provide early advice to avoid litigation. The episode concludes with practical tips on engaging the right authorities for different types of fraud cases and the critical role of transparency and trust in the attorney-client relationship. For more information or to contact Christopher, visit www.wislerpearlstine.com or email him at cezold@wispearl.com.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 10 April 2025
Diligencing AI Startups Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Artificial intelligence or AI brings new capabilities and applications. Many startups launch their business around AI technology. Investors considering an investment in an AI startup should check the following: Source of data. Does the startup have access to data sets? Unique data. Does the startup have a data set that others do not have access to? Clean data. Is the data clean and ready for use or must it go through a costly cleaning process? Quantity of data. Does the startup have access to a substantial amount of data? Cost of processing. How much does it cost to process the data? Machine learning. Also called ML. Do they have their own ML model or are they using an open-source one? Core competency. What is their core competency -- core data, machine learning, user interface, and others? ML skills. Does the team have a core skill set around developing ML? Data collection regulatory Does the team gather and use the data sets within compliance? Consider these factors when you are conducting your diligence on an AI startup.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 9 April 2025
Medical Device Milestones Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The medical device startup has a well-defined list of milestones to achieve to bring a product to market. Here’s a list of key milestones for the medical device startup: Market requirements -- defines the current status of solutions and unmet needs of the market. Product requirements -- defines the features and specifications of the proposed product. Prototypes -- intermediate implementations of the product for testing, customer feedback, and fundraising with investors. Clinical unit -- a version of the product to be used in clinical testing. Pre-clinical validation -- clinical tests to determine safety and efficacy. Clinical trials -- animal and human tests with the clinical unit. CE Mark -- certification to sell the product in Europe. FDA 510K approval -- for non-invasive products in a sector with previously certified devices this is the shortest path to FDA approval. First orders from customers -- the initial purchase of the approved product. Break-even -- the product achieves break-even on revenue with cost to build and sell. A typical medical device will take three to five years to gain FDA clearance and reach the market. Consider these steps for your medical device development.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 8 April 2025
Overcoming the Investors’ Hesitancy Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In fundraising, there comes a time when the investor must decide to join or pass on the round. Many investors hesitate to join as they try to decide. Here are some steps founders should take to overcome the hesitancy: Start the outreach to investors well ahead of launching the campaign. Begin six months before contacting potential investors and indicating you are preparing a fundraise. Use the six-month window from first contact to campaign launch to educate the investor and provide a few updates. Craft a strong story and use case for your company. Take the investor on the journey with you by keeping them up to date on the ups and downs of the business. Show how short the time from launch to break even will be and how well-defined it is. In the very early stages avoid forcing the investor to climb the valuation wall. The valuation wall is the challenge the investor undergoes to determine the correct valuation. Instead, use a convertible note with a valuation cap which effectively kicks the valuation question down the road. Consider these steps to avoid the investor hesitancy phase.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 02.overcoming_the_investors_hesitancy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Mon, 7 April 2025
How Private Equity Differs From Venture Capital Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Private equity and venture capital are different types of investment. Here are the key differences: Risk level Private equity takes less risk and thus a lower potential return than venture capital. Private equity investments invest in firms with a positive profit line while venture capital investments run negative on the bottom line putting everything into top-line growth. Control level Private equity often takes a controlling position in the company. Venture capital takes only an oversight position in most investments. Stage of business Private equity invests in mature companies with a history of revenue and profits. Venture capital invests in early-stage companies with great promise. Funding source Private equity raises funding from institutional investors. Venture capital raises funding from limited partners who are typically high-networth individuals. Size of investment Private equity often invests substantial amounts of money into the business to increase profitability. Venture capital typically invests smaller amounts of capital to increase the growth rate. Consider these differences in considering private equity or venture capital funding for your fundraise. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.how_private_equity_differs_from_venture_capital.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 4 April 2025
The Gap Between Seed and Series A Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup funding, we talk about preseed, seed, Series A, Series B, and so forth. It sounds like each stage is just one step after the other. When you finish your pre-seed round you raise your seed. In reality, there’s a gap between seed and Series A. It often takes several rounds of funding to close it. Most startups raise a preseed, seed, seed+, seed++, and another bridge round for $250K, and then go to Series A. This is often a surprise to first-time founders. The reasons are as follows: In most cases, the Series A is the first institutional round of investment. The requirements regarding revenue, growth, margins, churn, and other factors are fixed and rigorous. Prior rounds of funding were often made regardless of the results of the business but rather on the promise of future results. Series A investors have specific requirements around valuation and ownership stakes. This often requires better metrics and more revenue to make it work. It’s often the case that the founders have a vision for a specific valuation. Specific valuation targets often require better metrics from the startup. Make sure you plan for the gap between the seed and Series A in your fundraise.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 4 April 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, we dive into the world of live entertainment as a service with Jason Seitz of Ticket Rewards. Jason provides an insightful overview of how Ticket Rewards is transforming live entertainment by partnering with brands and venues to offer a seamless, engaging experience for consumers. With a significant inventory of tickets worth half a billion dollars, Ticket Rewards works with major brands like HBO Max, Celebrity Cruises, and United Mileage Plus to drive engagement and retention through exclusive ticket deals and loyalty programs. This innovative approach helps these brands maintain customer loyalty and reduce churn by providing unique, emotionally resonant experiences that tie back to the brand itself. Jason also discusses some compelling case studies, such as the impact of their partnership with Celebrity Cruises, which saw a 40% higher open rate and 20% higher click-through rate for live entertainment emails. Similarly, their collaboration with HBO Max resulted in higher engagement rates and retention. The podcast further explores their revenue streams, scalability, and how they are striving to grow their client base amid increasing interest from new potential partners like Lyft, Travelzoo, and others. Their innovative business model and successful partnerships have helped them make commendable strides in the industry, including finishing the year on a profitable note. Towards the end, Hall T. Martin and his guests delve into the intricacies of term sheets, offering a comprehensive breakdown of key financial parameters and how convertible notes like the 3x in 3 provide a flexible investment option. Hall emphasizes the importance of understanding term sheet dynamics, especially how these agreements can significantly favor either the founder or the investor. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of live entertainment and innovative business models, as well as those keen on investment strategies in dynamic startup environments.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. ________________________________________________________________________
For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 3 April 2025
The Startups Advantage Over Big Companies Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. While big companies have size, resources, and reach, the startup holds advantages of their own. Here’s a list of the startups' advantages: Focus - the startup can focus all its energy and resources on one thing. Big companies have an existing product line, team, and commitments they must maintain They cannot focus solely on one thing. Speed -- the startup can move fast in building and iterating on a product. Big companies must coordinate teams across department lines. They cannot move fast given their structure, culture, and workload. No legacy products -- the startup has no existing products to defend. Big companies have legacy products they must support and sell. In most cases, they must work around their current product lines. No brand risk -- the startup has no historical brand to maintain. Big companies have a brand and must protect it. They cannot take on risky startup products as it puts their reputation at risk. While big companies have a brand, scale, and resources, the startup is particularly well-positioned to pursue new products with disruptive technologies.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.the_startups_advantage_over_big_companies.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 2 April 2025
Startup Stages Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The startup goes through several stages before it achieves product market fit and then scaling. Here are the key steps that come before: The founder establishes the team. This is often driven by a passion or a business opportunity. The founding team develops a vision for the business they will build. This is often improving the customer experience around a current problem. The team envisions a product that provides value to the customer that solves the problem. The team tests the market by talking with customers. This often involves building minimum viable products and prototypes. The team builds an initial version of the product and tests the business model. The goal is to see if the customers use the product and if demand will spread. The team takes the product out to a broader range of customers to check interest. The initial customers are often family and friends and may be biased in their assessment of the product. The team works on the product to achieve product/market fit. The goal here is to make sure the product works well for the customer and meets their needs. Consider these steps in establishing a startup for your idea.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 1 April 2025
No NDAs Before the Investor Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup fundraising, the NDA comes near the end of the process, not at the beginning. An NDA stands for Non-Disclosure Agreement and requires the signatory to keep confidential any, and all information disclosed. A founder asking an investor to sign an NDA before the pitch signals to the investor that there’s nothing protectable about the business. In most cases, the investor will not sign the NDA and will take a pass on the deal. A founder should give the investor basic information without an NDA. The founder should focus on the benefits of their technology and business model instead of describing exactly how it works. An example includes, our software reduces cost by 3x. There is a place for NDAs later in the process. When investors go into diligence, it’s appropriate for the founder to ask the investor to sign an NDA. Other cases to use an NDA in the startup space include the following: A potential acquirer wants to license a product or technology. A potential acquirer wants to buy the company. The diligence box has employee, customer, or partner information that is sensitive. Keep the dialog on a non-confidential basis with investors so they can learn more about the business.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 31 March 2025
Fundraising – Important but Not Urgent Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Fundraising can be hard for startups because it falls into the important but not urgent category. The Eisenhower matrix shows four sectors. Important and urgent-- spurs immediate action Not important but urgent -- delegate it Not important and not urgent -- discard it Important but not urgent -- plan for it In fundraises where there is no pressing need for funding, it can be difficult to complete. Other urgent tasks can take precedence over fundraising. This includes hiring employees, closing sales, and keeping clients happy. Fundraising most often is not urgent and doesn’t press the founder so it gets deprioritized. Fundraising requires intention, discipline, and focus. Develop a fundraising schedule and map it out on your calendar. Set aside time for it each week. Set activity goals for the number of contacts you will make. Engage your team to hold you accountable. In the startup world, what you focus on and pay for gets done.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.fundraising-important_but_not_urgent.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 28 March 2025
What Angels Can Do for Your Startup Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Angels can bring more value than just funding to your startup. Here’s a list of what angels can do: They bring a network for hiring key people on the team. Their network can also help find customers, partners, and others. They bring experience and can help make key decisions along the way. They help with fundraising, product development and launch, and financial decisions. For those with a high profile in the community, they bring notoriety to your startup. This helps in finding more investors and partners. They bring domain expertise if they come from the industry the startup targets. They provide coaching to help formulate strategy. They provide mentorship to startup founders. They provide additional support in the form of CFO and COO work. They bring a rich history of success and failure stories about other startups. They provide access to new networks and communities. Consider these points when recruiting angel investors for your fundraise.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.what_angels_can_for_your_stsrtup__05.what_angels_can_for_your_stsrtup.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 28 March 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, host Hall T. Martin speaks with Barry Fella of Cranial Devices about their innovative approach to treating hydrocephalus. Barry sheds light on the significant challenges associated with the current treatment method, such as high failure rates, infections, and the need for multiple revisions throughout a patient's lifetime. Cranial Devices is developing a physiologic shunt that offers a safer, more reliable alternative by draining excess cerebrospinal fluid directly into the venous system, significantly reducing the likelihood of failures and complications. The new shunting method presents a promising advancement in medical technology, with numerous benefits for patients, surgeons, and healthcare payers alike. Barry elaborates on the device's FDA classification, ongoing animal pilot studies, and plans for human trials in South America or Australia. He also discusses the future market opportunities, particularly for older patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus, and how Cranial Devices aims to capture a considerable share of the revision market. Tune in to discover how this groundbreaking technology could transform the landscape of hydrocephalus treatment.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 27 March 2025
Comparing Funding Sources Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In startup fundraising, there are four distinct groups to consider for funding. The list includes venture capital, angel investors, angel groups, and family offices. Here’s the comparison of each source: Venture capital VCs have their diligence process and will take some time to complete it. They write $150K to $500K checks on the first round. They are very sensitive to valuation. They often require board seats. They provide the most support of any investor type. Angel investors They can make decisions quickly They write $25K to $50K checks. They tend not to be swayed by valuation as much as other investors. They rarely require board seats. They provide the least support. Angel groups They have a process that will take some time to complete. They write $100K to $500K checks for a typical deal They can be sensitive to valuation. They sometimes require board seats. They provide some support. Family offices They can act like angels and move quickly or they may have a more detailed process. They write $100K to $250K checks on the first round. They can be sensitive to valuation. They sometimes require board seats. They provide some support. Consider these factors for your fundraise in selecting your target investor.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 26 March 2025
How To Fundraise in Down Markets Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The venture world cycles up and down based on technology breakthroughs, stock market gyrations, and other factors. In up markets funding can be more plentiful. In down markets, it can be more challenging to obtain. Consider these steps in fundraising in a down market: Spend more time bootstrapping the business to gain traction. For funding look for individual angels. Angels are less impacted by the financial cycles and can usually afford to invest a small amount at just about any time. Look for a corporate client or partner that can provide a great deal of business through one channel. Make sure you are using any available non-equity financing such as revenue-based funding, factoring, and equipment leasing. Consider joining professional groups where your customers live to make connections and learn more about the industry. Look for custom projects that utilize your core product. This helps pay the bills and keeps your team engaged with solving customers' problems with the core product.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 25 March 2025
Core Slides in the Pitchdeck Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The pitch deck tells the startup's story and provides key information about the investment opportunity to the investor. There are five key slides that an investor needs to see to understand the state of the business. Problem. The investor needs to understand what problem the startup solves to determine the market size. Solution The investor needs to see what the startup proposes to solve the problem to understand what product the startup must build and sell. Team. The investor needs to know who is on the core team leading the effort to build and sell the proposed product to see if they have the requisite skills. Traction. The investor needs to know where the startup currently stands on the path to engaging the market. Fundraise. The investor needs to know how much funding the startup needs to accomplish the go-to-market plan. These five slides provide the basic context with which an investor can understand the business. Without all of these, the investor lacks enough information to move forward with the deal. Make sure you cover these points in your presentation.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 24 March 2025
Startup Business Models Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Businesses sell to consumers, which is called B2C, or to businesses called B2B. Startups aggregate users, create marketplaces or sell services. Here’s a list of key startup business models to know: Freemium -- the startup gives something for free to build the customer list and then sells premium services to them. Subscription -- the startup finds a needed service and sells it to the customer on a recurring revenue basis. Marketplace -- the startup brings buyers and sellers together in one place and makes money off the transactions. Fees for service -- the startup provides a service, content, or access in exchange for a fee. Advertising -- the startup attracts an audience and sells advertising to those who want to promote their product or service to that audience. Data monetization -- the startup collects data from a group of people or processes and sells that data to others who use it to improve their business. Razor - razor blade model -- the startup sells a product that requires disposable components to use. This creates a recurring revenue stream from repeat purchases of the disposable product. Consider these business models for your startup.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 21 March 2025
The Pre-Seed Pitch Deck Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The pre-seed company raising funding faces a challenge. There are no revenue, traction, or performance metrics to show the investor. The startup basically has an idea, a team, and little else. For the pre-seed pitch deck, cover these topics: Start with the team and show each one's past experiences. Talk about how the team knows a particular market and use case. Highlight the problem in that market. Show the key insight the team has about the market and the problem. Discuss how to solve a problem with that insight. Show why now is the best time to pursue this opportunity. Point out a recent change in the industry or an inflection point in the market that provides an opening. Show what the team has done so far to reach these conclusions and who they have talked to. Show the market size and the entry point into that market. State the investment ask and use of the funds. The key to a successful pre seed pitch is to show you have a strong team with a unique insight that can be exploited in a short time frame.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 21 March 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin chats with Mike Sloan, Founder, and CEO of Simple Labs. Mike introduces Cogni, an innovative device designed to tackle significant challenges in the wine and spirits industry, such as product loss due to evaporation and spoilage. Starting from his background in bourbon country and transitioning to wine country, Mike shares insights on the industry's pressing needs and how Cogni could potentially save billions in losses annually while optimizing premium product selection through continuous barrel monitoring and data analytics powered by AI and ML technology. Mike outlines the substantial market opportunities with both immediate and future potential, illustrating how Cogni's platform extends beyond a simple device to a scalable solution with a global reach. He emphasizes Cogni's current traction in the market, with agreements in place with leading distilleries and collaborations with academic centers. Investors will be keen to note the $10 million Series A round intended to accelerate growth, scale production, and refine the innovative real-time monitoring technology further. The discussion also delves into the technical specifics of Cogni, including hardware and software integration, cost, and reusability, demonstrating how the platform offers a comprehensive and cost-effective solution for winemakers and distillers alike. Tune in to learn more about how Simple Labs is poised to disrupt the wine and spirits industry and capitalize on a $1.6 trillion global market opportunity.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 20 March 2025
Help the Investor Understand Your Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors hear a great number of pitches. In each pitch, the investor must figure out what the startup is doing and if it meets their investment criteria. In pitching, an investor considers these steps to help the investor understand your startup: State clearly what the startup does. In fact, state it in 5-7 words so the investor has a clear understanding. Show a picture of it, if possible. State the value proposition. This shows how the product is different from the competition. Use analogies and metaphors to explain complex technical products so non-technical people get a sense of it.. Identify your target market and your ideal customer profile. Show the customer ROI from using the product. Investors want 10X improvements over the competition, not 10% increases. Show not only a large available market but also an initial beachhead market that you have already established. Display the team and call out the skills each one brings to this startup. By providing a few clear points in the presentation, the investor can more easily grasp the basics of the startup.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.help_the_investor_understand_your_pitch.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 19 March 2025
Negotiating the Valuation Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Negotiating the valuation is a key step in the fundraising process. Here are some helpful strategies to consider in negotiating the valuation: Understand the comparable valuations in your space. These are called comps and give you a starting point for negotiating. The founder should have a proposed valuation to show investors. This could be renegotiated later, but it gives a starting point to the discussion. The key to a successful negotiation is to articulate all the values in the business. VCs will often throw out a lowball offer. This, for the most part, is a negotiation tactic. The VC is testing to see how much the founder believes in their own valuation. Keep the terms on a pre-money valuation basis. If you state the valuation in post-money terms, then any additional funding raised will eat into the founders' ownership stake. Consider the options pool in the negotiation process and how that will be paid for by both the founder and the VC rather than the founder alone. Finally, don’t rush the process or be rushed by the VC. Take your time and consider all the terms.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 18 March 2025
Best Practices for Series A Fundraising Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Fundraising for Series A is fundamentally different from fundraising for a seed round. In the seed round, the goal is to convince the investor you can sell it. In the series A round the goal is to convince the investor you can grow the business. Here are some best practices for running a Series A fundraise. Show how the business is up and running with a solid growth trajectory. Demonstrate that you have achieved product market fit and can increase sales. Raise for sales and marketing and not more product development. Focus on your core product and avoid expanding to other products. Show your unit economics to show the profitability of your core model. Show how funds raised will directly increase sales. The other departments in the business, customer service, support, finance, etc, are up and running, albeit on a small scale. Show your repeatable, predictable sales model from start to finish. Include the steps you take to generate a lead, qualify it, and close the sale. Calculate the ratio of leads to customers and average sales price. Set it up so you can plug in a forecasted sales number, and the model shows how many leads you must generate, qualify, and close. Demonstrate to the investor that you have the sales machine figured out.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 02.best_practices_for_series_a_fundraise.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Mon, 17 March 2025
Matching Risk To Reward Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In choosing an investment, the investor matches risk to reward. A public stock may go down but most likely will not go bankrupt. A startup is much more likely to go under. Since the risk is low in a publicly traded company, the reward may be low. Since the risk in a startup is high, the reward must be high. For later-stage startups the risk of going bankrupt is lower than for earlier-stage companies. Therefore, the return on investment may be lower. Beware investments such as restaurant deals where the reward is low but the risk is high. Most restaurant deals offer a percentage of revenue over the lifetime of the business and nothing on the exit. The risk is high because it could go under in the first few years. In many cases, a restaurant deal will give the investor a 10 to 20% return but stands the chance of losing all of it by going out of business. For a true early-stage company, the reward must be high because the risk is high. Match risk to reward in your startup investing.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 14 March 2025
The Secret Is in the Iterations Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Many founders try to tell everything to the investor in the first pitch. This is not possible as there’s no way to convey everything about the startup in one go. It’s best to break the information down into smaller pieces and drip it out over time. The multiple interactions help build the relationship. While each step seems small, they are accretive. One step builds on the other. Take your information and pull out the most enticing elements, such as a recent sales win, a new hire, or a product development piece. Use these tidbits in your pitch to attract investors. Take the remaining information and break it down into updates and follow-up content pieces. Schedule out the follow-up pieces so you present a consistent flow of information to the investor. The small but consistent updates will build and reinforce your growth story to the investor over time. It takes multiple touches to close an investor. Set up those content pieces and schedule them over the course of the campaign.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 14 March 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall Martin engages in a conversation with Jason Kutasi, a prominent member of YPO, a global leadership community for young presidents. Jason discusses his journey from exiting a D2C children's book publisher to Scholastic, to establishing an ad agency post-exit. He shares his expertise in marketing, emphasizing the importance of testing products, brand names, and customer interests before fully investing in them. Jason provides vital insights on the common mistakes startups make, such as not understanding their target customers or the actual pain points their products solve, and the necessity of a deep understanding of marketing for startup success. Jason also illustrates various scenarios using his experience with scalable startups, highlighting how businesses can optimize their marketing strategies to be more efficient and effective. He stresses the importance of testing before building a product and understanding the specific needs of potential customers. For example, he talks about how A/B testing helped a client choose the better product name, leading to higher customer engagement. Jason also reflects on the evolution of marketing strategies and the increased emphasis on cost-effective, rapid market-testing methods in today's startup ecosystem. The conversation concludes with Jason's perspective on remote work, the impact of COVID-19 on startups, and the integration of AI in digital marketing. He emphasizes the significance of building human connections and understanding your investors' needs. Jason advises startup founders to fly out for face-to-face meetings to build stronger relationships and improve their chances of securing deals. Throughout the episode, Jason's insights provide valuable lessons for both budding entrepreneurs and seasoned investors looking to navigate the ever-changing landscape of scalable startups. Visit YPO at www.ypo.org/ Reach out to at www.linkedin.com/in/jasonkutasi/ Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 13 March 2025
What Not To Say in a Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, startups should avoid these statements to investors. “We have no competition.” If there’s no competition, then there is no market. Instead, the founder should talk about how the startup solves the problem in a new and unique way. This is the value proposition of the business. “You’ll need to sign my NDA before I can tell you about my business.” The investor will interpret this to mean there’s no protection on the business, such as intellectual property. Instead, the founder should limit the discussion to the benefits their technology provides and not go into how it works. “I’ve included my sweat equity on the cap table.” The investor will only recognize equity that is bought with dollars. The founder should consider sweat equity as table stakes that all startups must bring to the fundraise. “We only need 1% of this billion-dollar market to be successful.” While this statement may sound compelling, the investor interprets this statement as lacking a go-to-market strategy. The founder should focus on their initial traction with customers by outlining the first twenty customers they will pursue. This shows a focused approach to entering the market. Avoid these statements in your pitch.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 12 March 2025
What Is a Value Proposition Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A value proposition is a feature that makes the startup valuable to the customer. It’s not your mission statement, which is the overarching goal of the business. It’s not your mantra that shows what your business stands for. A good value proposition aligns with the customers' needs. A unique value proposition shows how your business differentiates from others. Those who identify with your value proposition are your ideal customers. To identify your value proposition, look at the customer’s problem and ask how you can solve it in a new and different way. Analyze the competition to see how your solution differs. Test the value proposition with customers to see how well it resonates with them. Good value propositions focus on the customer and are unique. It’s important to write out your value proposition so that you clearly understand it and can communicate it to others. Every startup should identify its primary value proposition and promote it to the market.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 11 March 2025
Don’t Overhype It Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, it’s important to articulate all the values in the deal. If you don’t mention it, then it doesn’t exist in the investors' minds. Investors only know what you tell them. Include the values in the deal such as customers, other investors, partners, and team members, to name a few. You want to show everyone is supporting the effort and more are coming. In the process, don’t overhype the deal. Don’t indicate you have revenue when you do not. Don’t say you have won a contract when it is not yet signed. Don’t talk about a new hire if they haven’t actually joined yet. It’s okay to talk about the potentials and what is in the works, but don’t go so far as to pretend you have something that you don’t. Ultimately, the investor will learn everything about the deal, and if it doesn’t match with what you said, then you will have a credibility problem. In summary, make sure you highlight all the great things you have going in the deal, but don’t overhype it with things that don’t yet exist.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 10 March 2025
How To Enhance an Investor Update Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In writing an investor update, include the status of the business, key milestones achieved, and upcoming challenges. Here are some additional elements to add to the update to enhance it. Remind the investor what you do with a one-line summary or your mantra. This provides context to the investor about your business and the efforts you are making. Provide a report summary at the top in the form of a short paragraph outlining the main takeaways. Just about every investor will read the summary at the top. Call out investors who have gone the extra mile and provided value to the business since the last report. Everyone wants to be recognized, and this practice gives investors an incentive to do more. Instead of making a general call for help, include specific requests to people you know who have the connections or skills. Include links to previous reports so investors can return to them for additional information. Add information to the report about the team and what they are doing. Include photos of recent events to refresh the investors about the group. Consider adding these elements to your investor update.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.how_to_enhance_an_investor_update__.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 7 March 2025
Add Investor Relations to Your Website Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, prospective investors use your website to learn more about the business. It’s often the case that the investor will use the website to connect with the founder. To facilitate fundraising, add an investor relations button to your website. Create a page indicating you are seeking investors and providing a general contact us button to capture their name, phone number, and email address. Indicate that the company is seeking investors and capture their contact details. Do not put up any information about the fundraise since the pitch deck and the due diligence is only for investors and not for the general public. For crowdfunding campaigns, consider using your own website rather than a crowdfunding portal. This lets you turn investors into customers and customers into investors. It’s a good way to build your customer base as well as an investor list. One can also keep your investor list for your own fundraising and not expose them to other fundraisers. Make sure your website is up to date and communicates your startup’s values. Consider how to use your website to leverage your fundraising.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.Add_Investor_relations_to_your_website.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 7 March 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin speaks with Christopher Ezold, a partner at Wisler Pearlstine, a Pennsylvania-based law firm specializing in business employment and corporate law. Christopher provides valuable insights into the common types of lawsuits startups and growing businesses face, such as violations of non-compete agreements, disclosure issues, and intellectual property disputes. He emphasizes the importance of due diligence in hiring practices, contracts, and vendor selection to mitigate legal risks. They also discuss the pros and cons of litigation, arbitration, and mediation, as well as best practices for avoiding legal battles over non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. Christopher delves into the unique compliance issues faced by highly regulated industries like healthcare and biotech, particularly concerning government regulations and data privacy. He underscores the necessity of having knowledgeable regulatory advisors and maintaining robust data protection practices to prevent breaches and uphold trade secrets. Additionally, Christopher highlights the impact of a startup's litigation history on its ability to attract investors, stressing the importance of protecting intellectual property and maintaining clean contracts to boost investment attractiveness. Finally, Christopher offers practical advice on making business decisions about settling lawsuits versus proceeding to trial, and outlines the evolving legal challenges for startups, including changing non-compete laws and the complexities of privacy and cybersecurity regulations. He concludes with crucial tips for startups and entrepreneurs to minimize lawsuit risks by hiring the right people, documenting agreements, and ensuring team integrity. For more information, listeners can visit Whistler Pearlstine's website or contact Christopher Ezold directly at www.wislerpearlstine.com
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 6 March 2025
The Importance of Your Website in a Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Your website plays a key role in your fundraising. The first place an investor goes after hearing a pitch is your website. Make sure it is up to date and looks professional. Pitch slides are meant to be high-level thumbnails and typically contain few details. The investor wants to learn more about your product and your team. Make sure your product is well described, including any platform solutions. Also, keep the team page up to date with the current C-level team as well as any advisors. Position the website to be one level beyond your current fundraising stage. This will enhance your presence with investors. For example, if you are raising a seed round, design the website to look like a Series A company. Seed companies show you are selling the product. Series A companies show that you are growing the business. Series B companies show you are scaling the business. Finally, consider adding an investor relations button on your site. This gives prospective investors the ability to reach back out to you for follow-up questions.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.the_importance_if_your_website_in_a_fundraise.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 5 March 2025
How To Use Round Closings Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In planning out a fundraise, it’s best to break the raise into a series of round closings. Communicate the overall fundraise amount to the investor but break it into steps. The first tranche is called the first round close. This typically includes family and friends funding. Use this funding to attract more investors to join. Set the date for the closing and make the deadline clear when pitching investors. This gives a target date for investors to make a decision. A typical target date is eight to twelve weeks before the closing date. This gives the investor enough time to run their due diligence before investing. Too short a window and the investor will bail, saying they don’t have enough time. Too long a window and the investor will procrastinate. Give investors who come into that round an incentive, such as an investor-friendly valuation. When that round finishes, start the next one. Set the next deadline and communicate the date to all the investors who did not invest in the first round. Inform the investor that you raised the first round and are now moving to the next one. Use funding from the first round to add momentum to the second one.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 4 March 2025
Steps To Plan Your Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Before you launch a fundraise, first plan out your investor engagement: Follow these steps to prepare: Create a timeline, giving yourself three to six months before launching the campaign. Make a list of your key contacts, including both investors and connectors. This includes people who know investors and can connect you with them. Prioritize the list based on who would be the most likely to help you. Determine how you will gain an introduction to each investor by looking at mutual contacts and network affiliations. Develop your investor documents, including pitch deck, financial forecast, and diligence documents. Write out a series of email templates for introductions, follow-ups, and updates. Identify three to five investors to target first to practice the pitch and update the deck so it’s complete. Track who has seen your deal through email and who has heard your pitch. Develop a series of communications to send out to carry the investor through the process. This will make follow-up simpler. The more structure and content you put in place before the launch, the easier it will be to execute the raise.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 3 March 2025
Building the Fundraise Funnel Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, it’s important to build a funnel into your fundraising. Just as you have a funnel for sales so you need a funnel for fundraising. At the top of the funnel are people you know but have not yet heard the pitch. Reach out to them in advance of the fundraise launch and indicate you are not raising funding now but in six months, you will be. Offer to tell them what you are working on with no ask. Most investors are curious about what may be coming up and will take the meeting. After the pitch, ask to keep the investor informed of your progress. Every month, send a short bulleted list of results about your business via email. After six months, you will have a list of investors who have heard the pitch and have been on the journey with you. This builds your investor funnel for when you do launch the fundraiser. It takes seven touches to close a sale so it takes seven touches to close an investor. By starting the process before you launch the formal campaign, you take care of those interactions. Include building the investor funnel into your fundraising plans.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 28 February 2025
Milestone Your Valuation Caps Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In strategizing your fundraising, it’s best to break your raise into tranches. Most raises start with a Convertible Note or SAFE Note so one uses a valuation cap rather than the actual valuation. Give the first tranche an investor-friendly valuation cap. For the second tranche, raise the valuation cap by 50%. In the pitch to investors make clear that there’s a limited amount of the low valuation cap equity. When those funds are raised, move to the next tranche at a higher valuation. Continue this stair-step of the valuation cap for the remainder of your raise. This creates scarcity for the low-priced equity and encourages investors to come in early rather than late. Most investors want to do the smart investor thing which is to be the last investor in the round. Give investors a reason to invest early. This will help move your fundraising along and avoid stalling out.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 28 February 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, host Hall T. Martin and co-host Kat Delvedio dive into TenCapital's initiatives and upcoming events aimed at bridging the gap between startups and investors. We emphasize the importance of building investor relationships and share details about key programs like the Family Office Roundtable, Virtual Quick Pitch for AI-enabled tech companies, and the Life Science Syndicate. Hal introduces AVA, an AI venture assistant designed to streamline the investment experience by providing insights from a trove of resources, including blog posts, podcasts, and proprietary tools. The episode features pitches from innovative startups, starting with Nathan Monty of Enamel Pure. Nathan discusses how his company is revolutionizing the preventive dentistry market with a laser and imaging technology that enhances clinical procedures and introduces AI-driven diagnostics. Nathan describes the significant market potential, detailing the benefits of their comprehensive device, which performs teeth cleaning, enamel hardening, and whitening, all while generating valuable diagnostic data. Vadim Balashov of Viaduct Ventures and Nola Masterson of Portfolio join the panel to provide feedback and ask insightful questions about Nathan's presentation. The discussion covers exit strategies, market approach, and the innovative use of AI in both dentistry and investment strategies. For more information on TenCapital's events and to join upcoming sessions, visit tencapital.group and click on the events button. Those interested in learning more about AVA can find her at startupfundingespresso.com.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: TEN_Capital_Virtual_Investor_Education_Series_Descript.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Thu, 27 February 2025
You’re Too Early for Us Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startup founders raising funding will often hear an investor say ‘You’re too early for us.’ Many founders believe the investor may be a candidate for a future raise. In reality, most investors who say you’re too early are actually saying, it’s a pass. Experienced investors become adept at how to say no to the founder without causing resentment. In this case, they are saying you’re okay, your startup is okay, but the timing is off. This implies it’s no one’s fault and it’s beyond our control. This type of pass leaves the door open for a future discussion when the investor may be open to investing. Investors want optionality. They may not want to invest today but in the future, they may want to join the round. ‘You’re too early’ statement positions them to join later potentially. In many cases, the investor doesn’t see enough traction to engage the startup. The next step for the founder is to continue building the business and look to attach to a growth story. There are sectors in the startup ecosystem that are hot and attract investment. Founders should find a way to connect their startup to that growth sector to generate more interest from investors.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 26 February 2025
Keep Going Till the Money Is in the Bank Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In fundraising, the deal is not done till the money is in the bank. Many founders stop their fundraise when an investor says, “I’m in.” It’s important to continue the fundraising process even though you may have commitments to cover your raise. Not all investors come through with their commitment. Even a signed terms sheet doesn’t mean the deal is done. Stories in the startup space abound with “the deal blew up on the one-yard line.” This football analogy shows the fallout of investors on the way to the end zone for a touchdown. When an investor says ‘yes’, start working through the process to close the investor and bring the funds into the bank account. Continue talking to new investors about the deal. Once your fundraiser has momentum new investors will ask about the startup. This is a great position to be in as you can showcase the interest in the deal from other investors to help close the round. Keep going till the money is in the bank.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 03.keep_going_till_the_money_is_in_the_bank.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Tue, 25 February 2025
Fundraise Closing Rate Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In sales, the average close rate of prospects is 5% to 10%. This often seems low to first-time salespeople who view their product as superior to the competition. There are many reasons why customers don’t buy the product. These include the lack of budget, inability to make a decision, and other priorities taking precedence. In fundraising, the close rate with investors is similar at 5% to 10%. The startup founder must talk to a hundred investors to close investments from 5% to 10% of them. The founder sees the potential of the startup and the opportunity it has. But only a minority of investors pitched will ultimately come in. Reasons include lack of funds available to invest, inability to make a decision to go forward, and other startups such as portfolio companies that take priority. Founders should factor this into their fundraising strategy. Set a goal to meet enough investors to hit the fundraising target. There’s a saying in the finance world. You have to kiss a lot of frogs. The startup space is no different.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 24 February 2025
Research Your Investors Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Just as investors do research on the startup so the founder should do research on the investors. Research includes both primary and secondary research. Primary research comes from talking with the investors’ portfolio companies and other investors. Ask the founders who have worked with the investor about their experience. Look for what value the investor can bring. This includes both connections to other investors and business skills such as hiring, go-to-market strategies, and financial management. Secondary research comes from researching the investor online for their past experience, investments, and content posted. Review the investor’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about their work history. Look at the investors' website to understand their investment thesis and what companies they’ve funded. Superficial impressions of an investor are often misleading. Some of the best investors don’t carry a high profile in the community. Choosing a bad investor can make your startup life problematic so research well and pick carefully. This type of research will inform your fundraising efforts.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 21 February 2025
Demonstrate Credibility With Investors Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding either as a startup looking for investors or a VC fund manager looking for Limited Partners, it’s important to demonstrate credibility. Investors love to be educated on a market segment. There are over 200 market segments in the venture space so it’s difficult to keep up with them all. One way to demonstrate credibility is to take your market research and showcase it to investors. In launching a startup or fund, one typically does a deep dive on a market segment and generates an array of charts and graphs showing the trends and status of the segment. Take that market research and build a 15 slide presentation showing the state of the market including trends that are increasing and areas that are decreasing. Offer a briefing on the sector and go through the slides showing the status. Call out the insights to be gained such as where value will accrue. Show who will be the winners and the losers in the next five years. This provides the foundation for a startup or an investment thesis for a fund. By educating the investor on the market you are now positioned to discuss how your startup or fund will take advantage of those trends. Offer the market brief as a standalone meeting with no ask of the investor. It’s important to build credibility first.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.demonstrate_credibility_with_investors.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 21 February 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin is joined by Christopher Ezold, a partner at Wisler Pearlstine, a law firm based in Pennsylvania that specializes in business, employment, and corporate law. Christopher shares insights into the complexities surrounding non-compete agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), especially as they pertain to startups and the investment landscape. He discusses the evolving legal landscape regarding non-competes, the importance of tailoring these agreements to specific roles and states, and the critical factors investors need to consider when evaluating a startup's legal safeguards. Christopher also touches on the broader changes in employment law, the impact of generational shifts on the workforce, and offers practical advice for ensuring legal agreements are enforceable to protect intellectual property and competitive advantage. Reach out to Christopher at cezold@wispearl.com. Visit their website at: http://www.wislerpearlstine.com/
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 20 February 2025
Identify a Champion in the Group Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding look for those who believe in your project and believe in you. Don’t spend too much time with those who don’t. In a group identify a champion who can galvanize others to action. This is sometimes a lead investor and other times it’s just someone who knows everyone. In working with a VC group, identify a champion for your deal. In a VC fund, a partner brings a deal to the fund and works to convince others that this will be a great investment. It’s their job to sell it to their group. It’s your job to arm that champion with enough information to win the investment. This includes updates about the progress of the company. Updates include progress in sales such as leads generated, prospects moving through the funnel, and closed opportunities. Updates also include experienced people you are bringing on board as core team members or advisors. Finally, updates showcase other investors joining the round. Keep your champion informed so they can convince others to join the fundraise.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 19 February 2025
You Need To Have Thick Skin Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the fundraising process, the startup founder will hear ‘no’ many times from investors. For the founder, this can be painful as the startup is their baby. Investors will say ‘no’ often and in many different ways. Some articulate it in words while others demonstrate it in their actions. The founder needs to have a thick skin because not everyone will get it. Consider these points when hearing a no: Never take the investor feedback personally -- it’s business. After each interaction, ask yourself why the investor said no. Look at the pitch from their point of view. It’s often the case the investment doesn’t fit their criteria or thesis. Some investors have finished their funds and cannot take on any more investments. Other investors don’t understand the space or how that part of the industry works. Still, others are unsure of the technology behind the startup and want to see more proof. Each interaction with an investor provides a lesson to learn. Having a thick skin helps.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 18 February 2025
It Takes Seven Touches Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It takes seven touches to close a sale. So it takes seven touches to close an investor. In the selling process, one starts by generating awareness of their solution with the prospective customer. So in fundraising, one generates awareness with the investor that an investment opportunity exists. In selling, one pitches the solution. So in fundraising, one pitches the investment. In selling one follows up to answer questions about the product. So in fundraising, one follows up to answer questions about the startup. In selling one reminds the customer that the product is still available. So in fundraising, one reminds the prospective investor that the fundraise is still open. It takes several touches to close a customer as they need to convince themselves that this will work. Fundraising is no different. The investor needs to work out in their mind that this will be a successful investment. Consider how you will execute seven touches for each investor on your fundraise.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 17 February 2025
Recruit an Expert To Help With the Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the fundraising process, the first-time founder is at a great disadvantage. Investors and other startup founders have experience raising funding. The investors have seen many startups, founders, and deal structures. They have the experience from those prior engagements. The first-time founder does not. It’s important to recruit an expert to help with the fundraising. This is someone who has seen many deals before and can coach the first-time founder. Here are some key areas of expertise they can provide: Deal structure -- there are several ways to set up an investment including type of structure, terms, and conditions. Positioning -- an investment can be positioned in many different ways. Choosing the correct positioning for the investor is important. Pitching -- an expert can help the founder with pitching the deal so it appears polished and professional. Pitch deck - an expert knows what information the investors want to see and can help raise the quality of the deck. Diligence -- an expert knows what information the founder needs to prepare. There are standard practices in the fundraising process. The first-time founder should look for an expert to help with the fundraising.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.recruit_an_expert_to_help_with_the_fundraise__.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 14 February 2025
Highlight the Investors Who Are Already in the Deal Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a fundraising round, many investors do not want to go first. In fact, most investors want to be the last one to join the round as the risk of not closing is very low. In raising funding, highlight the investors who are already in the deal. Some investors have a reputation for successful funding. Other investors look to the current investors in the deal as a proxy for joining. Ask your current investors if you can use their names in the fundraising process. Invite current investors to give a testimonial about why they invested in the company. This could be recorded and shared with others. In the recording have the investor talk about what they like about the startup as well as the risks they see. This gives potential investors insight into the diligence the current investors found. Emphasize the diligence work done by the current investors in the deal and show the prospective investors any diligence done so far. Most startup investors are follow-on investors and will look to others for confirmation. When you reach the halfway point of the raise, the signup rate often accelerates.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.Highlight_the_investors_who_are_already_in_the_deal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 14 February 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall Martin hosts Angela Lee, founder of 37 Angels, a community designed to activate investors through comprehensive training with a mission to diversify angel investing. Angela shares her background as a former entrepreneur and a Columbia Business School professor, highlighting that 37 Angels seeks to bridge the gap for those transitioning from entrepreneurs to investors. The organization offers boot camps that teach budding investors the intricacies of deal flow, due diligence, term sheet negotiations, and startup valuation. They examine around 2,000 companies annually but only invest in 10, maintaining a clear focus on efficiency, transparency, and empathy towards founders, drawing from their own entrepreneurial experiences. The discussion further explores how 37 Angels navigates the post-pandemic investment landscape, emphasizing the extended distance between founders and lead investors and the increasing interest in liquidity. Despite such challenges, the network boasts a high success rate with multiple IPOs and acquisitions from their investment portfolio. Angela underscores the importance of their commitment to realistic and humane dealings with entrepreneurs, as evidenced by testimonials, with 75% coming from founders they did not fund. The group aims to guarantee a funding decision within four weeks, a timeline rare in the angel investing space. Angela also addresses the broader role of diversity within angel investing, specifically noting that 37 Angels was created to tackle the gender disparity in the sector. Although there's been progress, Angela acknowledges the ongoing need for improvement, as only a small percentage of VC and angel funding currently goes to women founders. She stresses that while their investment criteria are neutral, the investor community within 37 Angels predominantly consists of women, further bolstering diversity on the investor's side. Looking towards the future, the episode delves into evolving investment models and the integration of AI in streamlining the investment process. Angela mentions how AI can assist in initial screenings and sorting of potential deals, saving significant time for investors. She highlights the growing trend of alternative financing methods like venture debt and revenue-based financing, which offer viable options beyond traditional equity investments. This innovative spirit aligns with 37 Angels' mission to support diverse pathways in the startup ecosystem. Tune in to gain insights from Angela Lee on the dynamic, collaborative, and forward-thinking environment that 37 Angels fosters.
Visit 37 Angels at www.37angels.com. Reach out to at www.linkedin.com/company/37-angels, and on Twitter www.x.com/37angelsny.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: riverside_angela__hall___feb_11_2025_001_alex_chompff__of_ev.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Thu, 13 February 2025
Show You Are Thinking About the Exit Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, founders should show investors that they are thinking about the exit. While no one can predict the outcome the investors want to know you are building a company that can be sold for a high price. This means the business will have facets that generate high returns. This includes recurring revenue monetization and a platform-based approach. This also means you’re building a business in a segment that has high growth potential. In pitching, the founder should show examples of other companies that have achieved an outstanding exit through acquisition or otherwise. Show the exit value as a multiple of revenue or EBITDA. Highlight the companies who bought them and why they did so. Align your business with startups who achieved a great exit and make clear you are building a company that will sell for a premium price. While the investors don’t always expect things to work out as planned, they want to know you are thinking about an exit strategy.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.showyou_are_thinking_about_the_exit.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 12 February 2025
Tell the Story Why This Will Work Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In pitching, many founders focus on how the product works or how the technology performs. In life science, the founder most often focuses on how biology works. It’s more important to tell why the business will work rather than how the technology works. In the introductory pitch focus on the benefits of the technology. Tell the story of why the business will succeed. This typically involves not only the technical details but also the business case. Here are some points to include: It’s a large market. The technology commands a premium price. It’s difficult for others to copy. You’ve validated the product and the market with the customer. The team is experienced and brings a unique set of values to the business. Finally, show how the business can scale. Scaling means revenue can grow faster than the costs. Instead of focusing on how the technology works, tell the story of why the business works.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 03.tell_the_story_of_why_this_will_work.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Tue, 11 February 2025
Show the Support for Your Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding from investors show the support for your fundraiser. In addition to talking about the amount invested so far, call out the interest and committed funds. If an investor indicates they are thinking about investing $50K, then that’s interest. If an investor indicates they are going to invest $50K, then that’s commitment. If there’s $50K from the investor in your bank account, then that’s an investment. Capture and maintain all three numbers for your fundraise and maintain it throughout the campaign. Just as you show a funnel into your sales pipeline, so you can show a funnel into your investment pipeline. It’s often the case, that the interest level is greater than the target fundraise. Most investors will not ultimately invest but it does demonstrate to investors that others are interested in the deal. Show these numbers in monthly updates to the prospective investors with the amounts increasing. This demonstrates the support for your fundraising from the investor community.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 02.show_thesupport_gor_your_fundraise.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Mon, 10 February 2025
Use Incentives To Attract Early Investors Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Incentives can entice investors to join the round. In the early days of the raise, you may want to offer warrants to investors to come in early. Warrants give the investor the right to buy stock in a specified price range. One could offer two warrants for those in a group who join this month, one warrant for those who join next month, and no warrants for those who join thereafter. Those seriously considering an investment will consider coming in earlier to capture the incentive. Incentives also work to break a stalemate in the fundraiser. If you have ten or more investors who are slow to join, you can offer the warrants as an incentive so someone in the group goes first. In this scenario, offer one warrant to each of the next three investors in a group. Once three investors are in, other investors may follow even though there are no longer any incentives. Discount stores that promote too many price reduction sales train their customer base to wait for the next sale. Use incentives carefully so the investors don’t wait for incentives to invest.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.use_incentives_to_attrack_the_early_investor.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 7 February 2025
Update the Investors on the Fundraise Progress Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding it’s important to build a list of prospective investors and keep them updated on the progress. After you pitch an investor, add them to a list for updates. It takes seven touches to close a sale so it takes seven touches to close an investor. Short bullet point updates sent monthly to those who have heard the pitch can be quite effective. It keeps the investors warm and reminds them you are raising funding. Investors are looking for momentum and traction in the deal. So it’s important to showcase that momentum building in the business. Focus on sales, team, product, and fundraise as those are the core four things investors want to hear about. It’s best to ask for permission to keep the investor informed after you completed the pitch. This gives you an opening to provide regular updates. Before launching a campaign, think carefully about what updates you will send during the campaign. Updates include what is new to the investors and not just what is new to you. If you haven’t told them a piece of information then it’s new to the investor and can be included in an update. Steady, consistent progress wins the race.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.update_the_investors_on_the_fundraise_progress.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 7 February 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin engages in a detailed conversation with Enzi from South Africa, who is trying to raise funds for a significant construction project in the U.S. The discussion begins with Enzi explaining his vision to make housing affordable and sustainable, incorporating key features like clean water, clean energy, and efficient sewage removal. Enzi is currently in the idea phase and seeks initial funding to register his business and patents before moving on to more significant fundraising efforts later on. The conversation shifts towards Enzi's strategy of acquiring an established U.S. company to speed up scaling once his patents are in place. However, he faces hurdles such as the limitations set by the South African government and a lack of interest from South African investors due to the project being U.S.-focused. Enzi elaborates on his goal to raise $50 million in U.S. investments after securing an initial $58,000, and discusses the challenges of reaching out to over 4,000 potential investors without much success. Hall offers valuable advice on how to improve the pitch and presentation to attract more investors. Hall emphasizes the importance of demonstrating strong support from family, friends, partners, and potential users to make the project more appealing to investors. He also advises Enzi to include details about tax breaks and various types of affordable housing in his pitch deck. Hall further suggests leveraging social media and personal networks to gain initial traction and support for the project before presenting it to larger investors. By focusing on building a solid network of supporters and presenting a compelling, well-rounded case, Enzi can increase his chances of securing the necessary funding to bring his affordable housing vision to life. Ultimately, this episode offers practical insights into the multifaceted process of raising funds for large-scale, socially impactful projects, emphasizing the need for meticulous preparation, strong support systems, and strategic networking.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 6 February 2025
Creating Scarcity in Your Fundraise Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In structuring your fundraise it’s important to design scarcity into it for the investors. If you have one raise at a relatively high valuation then there’s no incentive for investors to come in sooner. Most will wait to come in later after they see how the business performs. Here are the key steps to put scarcity in your fundraising: Take your overall raise amount and break it into smaller tranches. Price the first round with a fairly low valuation or valuation cap if you are using a convertible or SAFE note. For each subsequent tranche, raise the valuation by 50%. Check to see how much revenue you must have to justify that valuation on each round. Adjust to make each of these tranches reasonable revenue targets for your business. In proposing your fundraise to investors make clear the overall amount you are raising and announce the first tranche with its investor-friendly valuation. Make clear that when that funding is done, you are moving to the next tranche at a higher valuation. This creates scarcity in the fundraising as it limits the amount of investor-friendly priced shares. Show prospective investors the level of interest you are seeing for the first tranche. This incentivizes investors to come in early rather than late.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.creating_scarcity_in_your_fundraise.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 5 February 2025
How To Handle Toxic Customers Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Toxic customers can ruin employee morale and distract them from their work. Here are some steps to handle a toxic customer: Remind the customer of the company’s policies and what the engagement entails. It’s sometimes the case that the customer thinks the company is supposed to do more than what was agreed. Set the rules of working together so the boundaries are clear. It’s often the case that the customer gets caught up in the excitement of the project moving forward that they start to add more features than originally agreed. Say ‘No’ to project creep and ways of working that are outside the scope of the company. Some customers work twenty-four hours a day and expect others to do the same. Remind them of your working hours and ask to keep the meetings within those bounds. Some customers miss deadlines and expect the company to make up for it with uncompensated additional work. Remind the customer of the schedule and indicate they must pay an expedited fee or accept a later schedule. Some clients act in a passive-aggressive manner. Keep good records of what was promised and delivered so there’s no guilting your employees into doing work uncompensated. Some clients can become abusive. In those situations, it’s important to protect your employees in which case you may have to fire the client.
Consider these steps in dealing with toxic customers.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 4 February 2025
Signs of a Toxic Customer Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Just as founders, employees, and board members can be toxic, so can your startup’s customers. Here are some signs that one of your customers is toxic. They take advantage of your generosity. Toxic customers push you to the limit and beyond. They can’t make up their mind. Toxic customers put your team in a continual holding pattern while they make a decision. They continually revise their requirements, putting additional work on your team. They become a squeaky wheel taking more than their fair share of time and attention. They come up with impossible requests that the team cannot meet. Watch out for these signs of a toxic customer. If the problem becomes too much then the CEO should have a discussion with the customer about the boundaries of the service offered. Another approach is to charge additional fees to those who want service above and beyond the standard offering.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 3 February 2025
Signs of a Toxic Board Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Just as employees can be toxic to the company, so can the board. Here’s a list of signs that your board may be toxic: The board breaks their non-disclosure agreements and discusses confidential information with outsiders. The board members put their own agenda above that of the company. The board meets and performs chaotically without clear order. The board disrespects the CEO or other board members. This often occurs when new members join the board. The board is contentious and each meeting is a heated exchange. Board members have clandestine meetings with one another to discuss the issues. The board loses trust with the CEO and other executives of the company. The board is dominated by one or two personalities who influence the board for their own agenda. The board is apathetic and rubbers stamp whatever proposal is on the table. Look for these signs your board is toxic and take steps to rectify the situation. Make sure the board is aligned with the company’s mission and vision.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 31 January 2025
Toxic Board Members Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups form boards to guide and direct the company. Some board members can be problematic. Here are the signs a board member is toxic: Their ego outweighs their fiduciary duty to look out for the best interests of the company. They bully others to get their own way. They act in their own self-interest without regard to the interests of the business. They are a distraction taking attention away from the company. If the board member is too disruptive it may be time to remove them. You know this is the case when the board cannot perform their governance duties due to the distraction. To resolve this, the chair of the board should hold a discussion with the toxic board member and make clear the disruption it is causing. The chair should call out disruptive behavior when it happens and shut it down. The chair should remind the entire board of their code of conduct and make clear anything less will not be tolerated. If the situation continues, then the chair should initiate the process to remove the board member.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 31 January 2025
In this episode, Hall T. Martin, CEO and founder of TEN Capital, shares his journey from starting three angel networks to creating the Texas Entrepreneurs Network, which eventually became TEN Capital. Hall discusses his early experiences in angel investing, noting the challenges startups face in finding investors, particularly in Texas. He explains how his thesis led him to identify pockets of angel investors across the state and how transitioning to online platforms, including crowdfunding, helped streamline and expand their reach. Hall details the evolution of their roadshow events, the impact of the pandemic on shifting to digital, and the subsequent return to in-person interactions. Finally, he emphasizes the value of creating an interconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem by facilitating relationships between startups, investors, venture capitalists, and family offices through events, panels, and structured engagement. Tune in to learn more about the strategies and programs that TEN Capital employs to support and grow the investor-startup community.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 30 January 2025
Replacing Toxic Employees Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Toxic employees can have a detrimental impact on your employees, company culture, reputation, and revenue. It can be easier to find a new employee than to change an existing one. If behavior change doesn’t work then one must replace the toxic employee. Here are the steps to making the change: Determine when you should let the employee go. You can either hire the replacement first and then let the employee go or fire the employee first and hire the new employee later. In many cases, it’s important to remove the toxicity as soon as possible. Keep the employee change quiet and within a small circle of those who need to know. It’s not required that everyone has a going away party. Be careful with public postings for the position and consider hiring from within. Interview candidates in a discreet manner so it’s not clear to everyone that people are being interviewed. Discuss this with the toxic employee and indicate that it’s time to separate. If you don’t already have an employee policy procedure for employee departures, then now is a good time to create one for all employee separations.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 29 January 2025
How To Manage a Toxic Employee Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are many types of toxic employees. It’s important to minimize the damage they do by taking action. Here are some key steps in handling a toxic employee: Identify the problem and discuss it with the employee. For this step, gather information about the bad behavior and then talk to them. Make clear the behavior must stop and set a timeframe for improvement. Many times the toxic behavior comes from one trying to achieve their goals and doing it in a non-productive manner. In this case, provide coaching on how to achieve their goals and show what they must change. In some cases, the employee is a high performer and wants to run faster than everyone else. Give them the space to execute their own plans and minimize the disruption to others. Make clear the minimum requirements for working with others and participating in company activities. You can also move them to another department where they may perform better. In some cases the employee will need to be fired so be prepared for a hard discussion.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 28 January 2025
Types of Toxic Employees Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Toxic employees come in many forms. Here’s a list of the types of toxic employees: The bulldozer -- they are aggressive and run over others to get their own way. They typically have a strong personality and are disruptive in meetings. The passive-aggressive -- they let their true feelings be known in their comments and actions. They avoid conflict and show their disinterest through procrastination. The complainer -- they find the negative side of everything. They always point out the faults of others and predict the failure of every project. The hoarder -- they keep key information to themselves and fail to share it with others. They feel threatened by others and try to forge their own path. The self-centered --they must always be right. They don’t own up to their mistakes and never apologize. The gossip -- they spread the news about others behind their back. They talk about others and look for fodder for the gossip mill. The underperformer -- they chronically fall short of the goals and expectations. They are often disengaged from their work and find ways to hide it. Look for these types of people in your startup and work to mitigate their toxicity.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 27 January 2025
Toxic Employees Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Toxic employees can ruin a startup’s culture. Here are signs you have a toxic employee: Overconfidence -- they believe they can do more than they actually can. This leads to blown projects, missed deadlines, and poor morale in the group. Self-absorbed -- they believe the world revolves around themselves. This makes it difficult for them to work well with others in the group. Rule breakers -- they don’t follow the rules as they see themselves above it all. This creates disruption in the organization. Uncooperative -- they want to run every meeting and project in their own way. This makes it difficult to complete projects. Disrespect -- they don’t respect others in the group. This fosters a sense of disunity in the organization. To resolve these situations, have a discussion with the employee about their behavior. Bring hard evidence to the discussion to make clear the toxicity. If the behavior doesn’t change, it may be time to separate from the employee.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 24 January 2025
Signs of a Toxic Culture Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A toxic culture indicates that employees have an unhealthy set of habits and practices. Here is a list of signs you have a toxic culture: There are no core values practiced by the team. To fix this, identify the core values of the company and have the leadership practice and promote those values.The turnover rate is high. Employees leave when the culture is toxic. Identify the source of the toxicity and work to fix it. The company practices internal cutthroat competition. Provide a fair playing field for all employees and stamp out bad behavior. Absenteeism is high. Ensure the leadership shows up and on time to meetings. Demonstrate punctuality as a core value. Poor reviews of the company. The employees call out the company for a toxic culture such as low pay, lengthy working hours, and other aspects showing the company is taking advantage of the employees. Review the work-life balance of the company to ensure the ongoing program is sustainable. Productivity is low and no one knows what others are doing. Remove the silos in the company and promote more communication across departments.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 24 January 2025
In this episode, Hall T. Martin connects with Dallas Morgan, a filmmaker, and discusses the journey of producing 'Sightings,' an ultra-low-budget thriller released in 2017. The discussion explores how the filmmaker navigated its distribution through a small-label distributor, achieving a modest recoupment path and receiving positive reviews within niche markets. Hall and Dallas delve into the motivation to enter the distribution side of the film industry, aiming to enhance the standards set by lower-level distributors and maximize exposure for various titles, particularly low-budget films and series, on platforms with established relationships. Over the past four to five years, Dallas has curated a catalog of around 300 titles, engaging in multiple aspects of film rights acquisition and placement on emerging streaming services. Hall provides insights and advice on how to effectively create and finance new projects by leveraging previous learnings and established connections.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: Dallas_Morgan_raising_funding_for_a_film_project.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Thu, 23 January 2025
Toxic Culture Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups build a culture starting from the launch. The founder is the key determining factor for the type of culture in the startup. A toxic startup typically comes from the founder. Here are signs of a toxic culture: The founder and others speak ill of each other. Startups are small so the words of one will spread quickly through the group. The team makes fun of their customers and looks down on them. It’s important the team respects their customers and treats them with dignity. The team believes it’s okay to take from the company such as pay without work or worse stealing. Taking from the company is never right and should be called out and stopped whenever found. Overworking the team can lead to a toxic culture. It’s important to maintain a work-life balance with the business. To resolve a toxic culture, it’s important to locate the source and mitigate it. If it’s the founder, then one can work with the founder to change the behavior. If it’s an employee, then most likely that employee will need to find work elsewhere.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 22 January 2025
How To Handle a Toxic Co-Founder Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. If you find yourself with a toxic cofounder it’s important to take action. Here are the steps to dealing with a toxic cofounder. Try and work things out. Put it out on the table as an issue and talk through it with the cofounder. If the cofounder is indeed toxic then the next step is to work out an exit strategy. It’s important to bring in your legal counsel before making any moves. Develop a severance package and a departure date that minimizes disruption to the business. If there’s no vesting schedule of equity, then work out an agreement to buy out their equity over time. It’s important not to break the cap table with dead equity from the co-founder. Be fair to all including the co-founder and the team. Before recruiting a cofounder spend at least six months working with the candidate. Hire them as a contractor and give them several tasks to see how they perform. This helps prevent hiring a toxic cofounder in the first place. Make sure their equity is on a vesting schedule in case you need to separate early.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 21 January 2025
Toxic Founder-Co-Founder Relationship Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups should have a complete team at all times. In the early stages of the startup, this includes a founder and a co-founder. One should be selling it while the other should be building it. It’s important to have a solid relationship between the founder and the co-founder. Here are the signs you may have a toxic founder-co-founder relationship One or both are critical of the other. This goes beyond constructive criticism into a personal attack. One or both become defensive in a discussion. Instead of working through the discussion, one shifts the blame on the other. One or both resent the other. This comes out in the form of contempt. During a discussion, one or both withdraw from the conversation. This indicates one or the other is trying to stonewall. Before investing in a startup check the founder co-founder relationship. These toxic signs indicate the relationship will not last and will most likely spill over to the rest of the team.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 02.Toxic_founder_co-founder_relationship.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Mon, 20 January 2025
Toxic Founders Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Founders will make or break a startup. Here are signs of a toxic founder: They are the loudest people in the group. Their voice trumps everything else. They apply passive-aggressive techniques in managing their team. They can’t admit they are wrong. They have a high impression of themselves and expect others to have the same. They play favorites with some and put others on the hate list. They have no values. They bring out the worst in others rather than the best. They assume the world revolves around them. They make others feel small and insignificant. They don’t take responsibility for their actions. They have low self-esteem. They lack empathy for others. They can’t take feedback from others. They are abrasive with others. Look for these toxic signs in the founder of a startup.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 17 January 2025
Toxic Cap Table Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors funding a startup should review the cap table to determine the health of the startup. Here are signs of a toxic cap table. The founder owns the majority of shares and the cofounders own very little. Without incentive, the co-founders will not give their best effort. The founder owns very little of the company. Similarly, the founder will not find enough incentive to see the business through to exit. Too much equity has been given away in the pre-seed and seed rounds. This leaves too little equity for the Series A investors. The valuation was too high at the pre-seed or seed stage leaving no room for Series A investors to join who have a ceiling on the valuation they will accept. There are too many investors on the cap table. There’s a limit to how many investors can be on the cap table and giving up too many places could be a problem for future fundraise rounds. There’s no option pool for investors at the Series A level or later. This means all compensation to employees will come from cash. This makes it difficult to grow and later scale the business. There are too many liquidation preferences. This will make it difficult to raise at the later stage rounds. Look for these signs of a toxic cap table.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 17 January 2025
In this episode of How to Raise Funding, Hall T. Martin engages in a deep dive with Paul, discussing the intricacies and challenges faced during the startup IP filing and fundraising process. They address the crucial need for securing intellectual property effectively to avoid future refiling, and the importance of packaging the IP comprehensively to appeal to investors. Hall offers insightful strategies for structuring fundraiser campaigns, emphasizing the benefits of raising initial small funding at low valuations to build momentum and attract further investment. They also explore varying fundraising strategies, including setting clear milestones, maintaining realistic valuation expectations, and judiciously expanding the team according to the funding stages. The episode concludes with a detailed look at investor relations programs, term sheets, and leveraging safe notes and convertible notes to streamline the fundraising journey.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. ________________________________________________________________________
For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 16 January 2025
Toxic Fundraise Round Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A toxic fundraising round provides funding but makes it difficult for the startup to raise follow-up funding. Here are some signs of a toxic round: Giving up too much equity for an early stage round of funding. This makes it difficult to provide enough capital to future investors. Raising too much funding at the early stage. This gives up too much equity for the launch leaving little room for growth investors. Raising funding at too high a valuation. The question to ask is, “If you raise the round at this valuation, will you be able to raise the next round at a higher valuation?” If you don’t think you can do so, then you should raise at a lower valuation on this round. Giving up control of the company at the early stage. This makes it difficult for the founder to grow the business since they don’t control the cap table. Down rounds. This can crush early-stage investors and send a signal to new investors that no one is safe. Taking on debt in the early stage. Follow on investors will want to see their investment go to growing the business and not paying off previous investors or lenders. Some fundraising rounds become toxic and should be canceled.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Wed, 15 January 2025
Signs of a Toxic Investor Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, it’s important to choose the right investors for your startup. Avoid toxic investors at all costs. Here are signs of a toxic investor: They have no values and don’t make clear what they are looking for in a startup. They say they are interested in funding your deal but never take action. There’s no follow-up on terms sheets or diligence work. They continue to drag out the funding for non-substantial reasons. They want a long lockup period while they do their due diligence. Lock-up periods typically range from thirty to sixty days. They have unrealistic expectations about growth and what the company can do. They want a controlling stake in the company. Aside from being an investor, they’re a jerk. Their presence dissuades other investors from joining the round. They have no care about others' interest in the deal but only their own. They have a history of blowing up startups. Look for these signs you may be talking to a toxic investor.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Tue, 14 January 2025
Toxic Startups Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups can be great or they can be toxic. Investors should look out for these signs you are talking to a toxic startup Broken cap table -- the cap table has dozens of investors on it, each with their own terms and rights. This will be a problem for follow-on fundraising as it shows too many investors with competing interests. Customer concentration -- the startup has one big customer among a few smaller customers. This will be a problem for the founder as that customer will control the pricing, terms, and potentially other aspects of the business. If the customer decides to leave, the company will encounter a major setback. Questionable product market fit -- the startup has a handful of customers wanting their service. It’s unclear if this will lead to the greater portion of the market. Unusual terms in the funding documents -- this could be extraordinary rights held by the investors. The investors and founders should both have a balance of risk and reward in the deal. Founder and investor mismatch on growth plan -- the founders and investors want to grow the business in fundamentally different ways. It’s often the case that one wants to grow organically and the other wants to grow fast. This leads to contentious arguments at every board meeting. Look for these signs of toxicity in any startup you may consider investing in.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 13 January 2025
Challenges in Scaling a Recurring Revenue Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Recurring revenue brings many benefits to a business. There are challenges in scaling a recurring revenue business. Consider these challenges for your business: Manual processes -- these slow down the growth of your business. The more processes you automate the easier it will be to scale your business. Automated sales, marketing, support, billing, and product delivery. Churn -- businesses with a high churn rate will struggle to scale. Seek to build a sticky business that retains customers for the long term. Unintentional churn -- this comes from failed payments. Build-in tools to reduce failed payments through dunning, automatic card updaters, and other processes to ensure successful payments. Accurate reporting -- this captures the key data points around sales, payments, and other financial aspects of the business. The more you know about your business process, the more easily you can find ways to scale it. Lead generation -- scaling a business requires a greater number of leads and ways to process them. Consider what channels you’ll need to develop to scale your recurring revenue business.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.challenges_in_scaling_a_recurring_revenue_business__wav.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 10 January 2025
Challenges in Recurring Payments Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Recurring revenue brings many benefits but it also brings a few challenges. Lookout for these issues with recurring payments: Scalability -- traditional billing structures are designed for one-off payments and not recurring. As your company grows it will need a scalable solution for taking payments. Failed payments -- the customer's credit card is maxed out and can't fund any more payments. Consider tools for dunning which is the process of retrying the card over time. Invoices -- you’ll need to move away from manual invoicing to automated invoicing. This requires a system for capturing the details of the invoice including the services charged and payment to be made. Cost of service vs price charged -- to be profitable the business must charge more than the cost of the service. Calculate the unit economics of your business to ensure the pricing is sufficient. Revenue recognition -- revenue must be recognized for accounting purposes. Recurring revenue has strict rules around revenue recognition which are different from one-off invoices. Visibility -- many departments in a company need access to the recurring revenue payments from the customer. Sales, marketing, support, and other groups need to know the current status of the payment for reporting purposes. Consider these issues when setting up your recurring revenue business.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Fri, 10 January 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, we dive into two distinct yet promising sectors: medical diagnostics and sleep technology. Michael Cormack from Corwin Medical elaborates on the company's efforts to tackle peripheral artery disease (PAD) through innovative diagnostic systems that leverage multi-element ultrasound arrays and AI-based algorithms. He elaborates on the severe impact of PAD, its high mortality rate, and the cumbersome nature of current diagnostic tools like the Doppler Pencil Probe. Michael outlines their unique Ultrasense system, which promises faster, more accurate diagnostics, detailing a robust business model and strong leadership geared towards high-margin revenue and strategic industry partnerships with entities like Medtronic and Philips. He highlights the company's commercialization timeline and financial trajectory towards profitability by 2026, supported by a strong patent portfolio and seed funding efforts. The compelling patient stories and strong market need underscore the critical importance of their work in early PAD detection and intervention. Following this, we turn our focus to SleepScore Labs with Colin Lawlor, who shares his journey from ResMed to founding an organization dedicated to leveraging AI and data for improving consumer sleep. Recognizing sleep's critical role in overall health, Colin outlines how SleepScore Labs utilizes proprietary sleep data and intervention studies to provide companies with actionable insights and personalized coaching solutions. The importance of sleep for mitigating chronic diseases and optimizing wellness drives their market opportunity, particularly through B2B2C models with partners like Mattress Firm and Terabody. By highlighting their success in Germany, where their platform is reimbursed by insurance without a doctor's prescription, Colin emphasizes the robust, scalable business model ready to capitalize on the growing demand for sleep solutions. The episode closes with both Cormack and Lawlor discussing their exit strategies and potential for partnerships with industry giants, illustrating the potential for innovation in medical diagnostics and sleep technology. The detailed exploration into these fields gives investors and entrepreneurs critical insights into the paths to market success and the transformative potential of these cutting-edge technologies. Team and Funding 30:14 Q&A and Conclusion |
Thu, 9 January 2025
Metrics for Tracking Recurring Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are several metrics to track the health of a recurring revenue business. Here are some key metrics to know: Cost of customer acquisition -- this calculates how much sales and marketing spend goes into signing up a new customer. Life-time value -- this calculates how much a customer spends on the product over the lifetime of that customer on average. CAC:LTV ratio -- compares the cost of customer acquisition with the lifetime value to create a ratio. A 1:3 ratio is the floor for a successful business. ARR -- annual recurring revenue measures the revenue based on annual contracts. MRR -- monthly recurring revenue measures the revenue based on monthly contracts. Net MRR -- this measures the amount of additional revenue the company generates month over month. Churn -- the percentage of customers who opt out of using the product by canceling. ACV -- Average Contract Value -- this is the amount customers are paying for the product on average. ARB -- Annual Recurring Billings -- this is the amount all customers pay annually. Track these metrics so you understand the current state of your recurring revenue business.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.metrics_for_tracking_recurring_revenue.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 8 January 2025
Systems for Selling Recurring Revenue Products Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing Recurring revenue gives the company several sales opportunities. Here are the key systems to install for selling recurring revenue products. New logos -- this process finds new prospects and acquires them as an initial customer. New logos represent an expansion of the customer base by bringing in new users. This customer acquisition system must generate awareness among new prospects. Renewals -- this process seeks to retain existing customers by increasing renewals. Maintaining existing customers comes from the successful use of the product. The renewal process tracks the customers' usage of the product and looks to maintain the customers' engagement through customer success. Customer retention comes from strong customer support. Customer expansion -- this process seeks to sell more services to existing customers. Recurring revenue companies have multiple products to sell. This system proposes additional products to existing customers. A good, better, best product offering helps with the upsell and cross-selling. There are three systems for selling recurring revenue products: find new customers, renew existing customers, or sell more to existing customers. Consider the system for each one of these for your startup.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 03.systems_for_selling_recurring_revenue_products.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Tue, 7 January 2025
How To Add Recurring Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In addition to turning your core product into recurring revenue, there’s also adding additional services for recurring revenue. Not every business can turn the core product or service into recurring revenue. The next best thing is to add recurring revenue products into your business. Here are some key add-ons to consider: Support -- consider moving your support process into recurring revenue. By charging a monthly maintenance fee you build recurring revenue and maintain contact with the customer. This gives you the opportunity to upsell the customer to new products and maintain a relationship with them. Training -- consider setting up a series of training sessions that continually train the customer. This works well for enterprise customers who must continually bring new hires up to speed on your product. Since this is an ongoing process, it can be set up as a recurring revenue sub-unit. Upgrades and updates -- consider selling the upgrades on a recurring revenue basis so the customer receives new updates regularly. Since products are often upgraded, this provides an opportunity to charge on a recurring basis.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Mon, 6 January 2025
How To Integrate Recurring Revenue Into Your Business Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In transitioning your business to recurring revenue you’ll need to make changes to your processes. Here are some key steps in integrating recurring revenue into your business. Reconfigure your product offering so it can be used on a recurring basis. Update your marketing to promote the new product offering. Highlight the benefits of subscription with additional values such as always available and unlimited usage if appropriate. Set up commissions and incentives in the sales team to encourage selling the subscription products. Update your website to integrate the purchase and subscription management into it. Give the customer the ability to control their level of participation and ability to opt in and out online. Set up product usage tracking so you know how customers are using the product. For those who haven’t used it in a while you can reach out with promotional offers to regain their participation. Set Up an online support process to handle customer requests through the website. Move to automated payment systems using online services. By automating the support, payment, and customer services, you can create a more efficient business process.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 01.how_to_integrate_recurring_revenue_into_your_business.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 3 January 2025
Example Transitions to Recurring Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Many businesses can be moved to recurring revenue. Here are several examples of transitioning a business to a subscription. Lawn care -- a repeat business that is often paid for by the hour or the visit. Replace a variable pay for the service each time it is performed to a monthly payment for a fixed amount. Pet services -- pets require grooming, walking, sitting, and other services. Bundle grooming with pet sitting to create a monthly subscription service. Property management -- properties require maintenance, rent collection, and more. Consider bundling the services into one package and charging a standard fee each month for it. Personal grooming -- hair, nails, and other grooming services must be done regularly. Bundle a series of services into a standard price charged monthly on the credit card. Education -- student tutoring, continuing education and more could be charged on a monthly basis. Offer an annual membership in which the student is charged monthly for the service. Extermination services -- extermination is an ongoing service required by many. Consider setting up a standard service that recurs each month and charges automatically for it. These are just a few examples of businesses that could be moved to recurring revenue.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 05.example_transitions_to_recurring_revenue.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Fri, 3 January 2025
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin engages with John Ashley, the CEO and co-founder of Auctus Surgical, to discuss their groundbreaking approach to addressing scoliosis. John introduces the company's innovative technologies aimed at improving the quality of life for young girls and women affected by this debilitating condition. With over 30 years of experience in the medical industry and multiple successful startups, John and his team are at the forefront of creating a device that not only prevents the spine from deteriorating but also allows it to grow and maintain flexibility. The conversation delves into the challenges these patients face with existing treatments and the significant market opportunity for a more effective solution. John also shares insights into Auctus Surgical's journey, highlighting key milestones, funding stages, and future plans for commercialization. The episode wraps up with discussions on the science behind their technology, regulatory pathways, and the potential for this innovation to revolutionize scoliosis treatment for both children and adults. Additionally, the episode features Charlie Kim, a scientific advisor and angel investor for Aridica Corporation, who presents their pioneering automated blood processing technology. Aridica's innovation addresses the labor-intensive and inconsistent manual process of isolating immune cells from blood, offering a push-button solution that enhances speed, quality, and scalability. Charlie shares his enthusiasm and investment in Aridica, highlighting the significant research and clinical applications of their technology. The discussion covers the current market landscape, competitive advantages, and Aridica's strategic roadmap, including plans for product development, clinical trials, and partnerships with major industry players. For more information, connect with John Ashley on LinkedIn or visit Auctus Surgical's website here: https://auctussurgical.com/. To learn more about Charlie Kim and Aridica Corporation, connect with Charlie on LinkedIn or visit https://aridica.com/. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound. |
Thu, 2 January 2025
Steps for Transitioning to Recurring Revenue Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Once you’ve decided to move to recurring revenue you’ll need to set up a plan to switch your business process over to it. Moving to recurring revenue can be done by following these steps: Identify the services that are used repeatedly such as support, replenishment, and updates. Recast these services into a recurring offering. Consider moving your core value proposition to a premium product that requires a subscription. The non-recurring revenue component could be offered as a free product/service to engage the customer. Install payment mechanisms within the product. Notify existing customers of the upcoming change. Set a date for the launch of the subscription model. Start the service with new customers first as they are not yet onboard so there’s no switchover cost. Offer incentives to existing customers to move to subscriptions through discounts and other freemium products. Set an end-of-life for the current product to move the remaining customers to subscription. The process for most companies takes six to twelve months to complete.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 04.steps_for_transitioning_to_recurring_revenue.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
Wed, 1 January 2025
Maintaining Recurring Revenue Customers Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a non-recurring revenue business, one focuses on finding new customers. Once you have moved to recurring revenue, you’ll also need to focus on retaining existing customers. To retain customers you’ll need to create a strong customer experience. This comes from solving the customer's problem efficiently and building a relationship with the customer. To solve the customer’s problem efficiently, you’ll need multiple price tiers so the customer does not overpay or look elsewhere for what you do not offer. Price the product so the customer finds the best value for their money. Make sure the recurring revenue fits the problem the customer must solve. It needs to be a repeat problem. Maintain high-quality customer service. The customer in most cases has prepaid for the service and will expect a high level of support. Keep your offerings up to date with the customer’s needs. Recurring revenue models are constantly looking for new features to add and new products to offer. Finally, update your metrics to capture the state of the business. This includes the cost of customer acquisition and the lifetime value of the customer.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Direct download: 03.maintaining_recurring_revenue_customers.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am CDT |
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