Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


The Coronavirus economy is accelerating changes already underway.

Content and engagement is moving online.

This impacts healthcare and education in particular, as well as general business.

As a startup, you need to recognize this acceleration and move your business to be a part of it.

Look for capturing your content and making it available online.

Video, blogs, and other content can be digitized.

You may need to take on consulting work in the short-term to help pay for this process.

Customer engagement also needs to move online. If not all of your business, then some of it.

While face-to-face interaction is important and in some business interactions critical, you’ll need to figure out how to use webinars, video conferencing, and other tools to close the gap.

As you shift your business online, you’ll need to conserve cash and reduce staff.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org


Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes Noramay Cadena, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MiLA Capital. Noramay holds three engineering and business degrees from MIT and previously worked in the aerospace field.

MiLA Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests globally by leveraging hard and soft resources to build capital-efficient startups. The company funds at pre-seed, seed and post-seed stages, and their check sizes range from $100K-$1M. 

Noramay speaks in depth about the five values of the company and her excitement at the intersection of technology and manufacturing. She is very passionate about the new wave of venture capitalists and is working toward bringing this to fruition in the next five years. 


Visit MiLA Capital at www.mila.vc  

Noramay can be contacted via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/noramay/ and on Twitter at @noramayc

She can also be reached via email at noramay@makeinla.com  

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


The Coronavirus has sent the stock market into a wild ride of 1000-point swings every day.

In talking with investors, I find the following:

Early-stage investors continue to move forward with their investment plans.  Later-stage investors are putting their investments on hold to see how the economy sorts out.

Funds which have already raised their capital continue to do business as usual. 

Many investors are shifting their attention to their portfolio companies as a first step to ensure they have access to capital. 

Other investors are moving their investments into the higher-quality deals with stronger traction.

Valuations are starting to come down with some investors moving aggressively into the market as they see it as a strong buying opportunity.

Lenders are in the market as always, with their same criteria.

Investors look for startups that are finding a new growth story in the Coronavirus economy and will prioritize those investments.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

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For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


While the Coronavirus brings a lockdown in the movement of people, it doesn’t point to an altered future, but rather an accelerated one.

The Coronavirus will accelerate changes in the economy that are underway.

We were already shifting the supply chain to include home delivery of groceries and everyday items.

The Coronavirus lockdown only speeds that shift.

Amazon and other suppliers are hiring thousands of workers to meet the acceleration.

Education was already moving online and will only do so more now, that schools have cancelled classes and sent students home to log onto their computers.

Businesses were already moving to video conferencing and remote-worker organizations. 

The Coronavirus ‘stay at home’ mandates across the globe, encourage more users of Zoom and remote-worker software.

Healthcare was already moving to telehealth-based care. 

The overload of Coronavirus patients on the healthcare system will increase usage of that model.

The Coronavirus is moving our economy to the next generation and while it may be painful in the short run, it’s inevitable in the long run.

As a startup, think about how your company can be a part of the next economy.

That new economy is now here.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org


Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes back William Davis, Managing Director, Technology and Investments (New York) of family office LDJ Capital who offer many services, including asset management, financial advisory, philanthropy, art advisory, wealth management, valuations and investor relations.

Bill, who started his career in artificial intelligence and robotics and is very experienced in the FinTech space, discusses what he has been doing since his last interview with Hall back in 2018. He tells us what he is excited about, what his best investment was thus far, and opportunities in Africa. 

He goes into great detail about the investment opportunities in Space and welcomes anyone who reaches out to him with questions or investment opportunities. 


You can find LDJ Capital at https://ldjcapital.com/ 

Bill can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkmassive/ 

He can also be contacted via email at william.davis@ldjcapital.com and bkmassive@gmail.com and via telephone at 718-757-4195

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jared Augustine, CEO and Co-Founder of Thuzio. Thuzio is a sports events and media company based in New York that hosts pop-up events and produces live shows with iconic athletes. Alongside Jared, Thuzio is run with the combined work of Tiki Barber (New York Giants) and Mark Gerson (GLG).

Jared worked in the venture-backed technology businesses nearly his entire career, however, he welcomes and is enjoying the different challenges associated with running Thuzio.

Even though they are a small company now, they are a force to be reckoned with and they are very excited about the future.


Visit Thuzio at www.Thuzio.com 
Jared can be contacted via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaugustine/ and on Twitter

at https://twitter.com/jaredaugustine
He can also be contacted via email at jared@thuzio.com

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


The Coronavirus has taken an historic 10-year bull market and turned it into a bear market.

With comparisons to 9/11, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the Great Depression, startups and investors are adjusting to a new way of living.

In the short term, the investors will look for a gyrating market to settle out. This will take several weeks; maybe months.

After investors adjust to their new found portfolio status, they will re-engage investing in startups.

Some investors will look at this as a great buying opportunity and will move into the market more quickly. 

Others will move away from the public markets, fed up with the frantic nature of public sentiment. They will look for private companies with solid growth prospects.

Based on previous downturns, early stage startups (Seed and Series A) will see the same level of deal-flow activity.

Later stage startups (Series B and beyond) will see reduced investments as their higher-level dollar raises will be difficult to support in a tightening market.

Valuations will also come down. Investors who lost x% in the stock market will be looking for an equivalent haircut in valuations by startups.

Startups on the West Coast and East Coast, having over inflated valuations, will see the greatest drop. Those in the Midwest will see a small to moderate drop.

Startups will find that it takes longer to close sales (especially high-dollar products) as customers will take longer to make decisions and be slower to sign up.

This will make it harder for the startups to tell the growth story to investors who will be increasingly looking for ‘sure thing’ investments.

It’s important to adjust your fundraise strategy accordingly and move to a more conservative growth plan.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes Brad Payne, CEO and Founder of Walker Trolleys, a designer golf pushcart company based in Austin, Texas.

Brad, who worked at Apple for many years is an avid golf player and over the years has used many types of golf pushcarts. He realized that there were many improvements that could be made to the existing models, from how slowly current carts open, to the outdated material being used to manufacture them. Upon returning from a trip to Scotland, having visited the world-famous Old Course, the first design for Walker Trolleys was born.

Shipping of Walker Trolleys is scheduled for June 2020.


Visit Walker Trolleys at www.Walkertrolleys.com

Brad can be contacted via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradpayne/ 

He can also be contacted via email at brad@walkertrolleys.com

In this episode, Hall welcomes back David Mes of Off The Grid Ventures, which invests at the seed stage in B2B-tech companies where women and foreign founders are at the helm. This category of founders is underrepresented, but with the help of Off The Grid Ventures, they aim to help their investors achieve top returns on their investments.

Since the last podcast, David has been very busy with Off The Grid Ventures, but he also also joined the management team of one of the companies they invest in. Over the past three years, Off The Grid Ventures has invested in over 25 companies and sold 5.


Visit Off The Grid Ventures www.otgventures.com/

David can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmes/ 

He can also be contacted via email at david@otgventures.com 

In this episode, Hall is joined by impact investor Dr. Alicia Robb, Founder and CEO of Next Wave Impact who are “working to increase diversity, inclusion, and impact in early-stage investing and our entrepreneurial ecosystem through our innovative learning-by-doing progressive fund model.” 

Alicia received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Next Wave impact works to decrease the gender and racial gap in entrepreneurs and investors. Out of 99 women in their first fund, 25 of these are women of color and the company has invested in 13 companies to date. Alicia speaks passionately about leaving a sustainable and socially just planet for future generations.

You can find Next Wave Impact at Nextwaveimpact.com and on Twitter at @nextwavenetwork 

Alicia can be contacted on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-robb-a888228/ and onTwitter, @aliciarobb

In this episode, Hall welcomes Samy Eissa, a 12-year veteran in the music industry. He founded Hit Ventures, a boutique VC fund & consulting firm leveraging its exclusive network of partners who assist startups primarily in entertainment, media & hospitality technologies. 

As an entrepreneur, entertainment professional and business enthusiast, Samy constantly looks to push the envelope with innovative ideas built on talent and long lasting relationships.

Hit Ventures closely assists Seed and Series A level startups to build, market and grow their companies ensuring founders’ success and investor interests.


You can find Hit Ventures at Hitventures.co

Samy can be reached via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/hitventures, on Instagram at instagram.com/hitventures on Twitter https://twitter.com/SamyHitMGMT 

He can also be contacted via email at Samy@hitventures.co

In this episode, Hall is joined by Brent Ogilvie co-founder and Managing Director of deep-tech investment firm Pacific Channel Limited, headquartered in New Zealand. Pacific Channel Limited was founded in 2006 and to date, has inserted over NZD $50 million of early-stage funding into 27 New Zealand early-stage companies.

The New Zealand government is very supportive of startups and Brent believes that a team with a variety of skills is important to that company’s success. He explains new advances in the deep-tech space to include hope for kidney transplant patients.


You can find Pacific Channel Limited at Pacificchannel.com   

Brent can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ogilvie/ 

He can also be contacted via email at bogilvie@pacificchannel.com

In this episode, Hall welcomes Pedro Falcão, Managing Director of LC Ventures, the first global, hands-on, accelerator-investment vehicle in Portugal.

Pedro’s began his career in the 1980’s in roles ranging from programmer, to analyst, to strategic consultant (just to name a few). When he realized he wanted to work for himself, Pedro became an early-stage investor and, to date, has invested in over 100 startups. Helping startups is what makes him happy, and because he has experience across many industries, he has a wealth of knowledge to share.

You can find LC Ventures at Lcventures.pt

Pedro can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedromfalcao/

He can also be contacted via email at pedro.falcao@lcventures.pt

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

There are several approaches to Due Diligence. The most common is the “Thorough Approach” in which you review each aspect of the business and focus on the top items.

Main areas to cover in due diligence are:

Market

• What’s the market size -- Total, Serviceable, Beachhead?
• How fast is it growing?

Product 

• What is the state of the product both technical and market?
• Does it solve a burning need or add general value?
• What actually has been developed?
• What remains to be developed to go to market?
• Who has used the product and what do they say about it?  

Legal

• What contracts are in place?
• Are there any lawsuits?

Intellectual Property

• What patents have been filed/approved and when?
• What trade secrets do they have?

Financials

• What revenues have come in?
• What are pending?
• What is the burn rate?

Capitalization

• What is the capitalization structure?
• Who are the major players?

People

• Key players and their roles and responsibilities?
• What contracts are in place with each?

Of course there’s a checklist for each area to complete as well, but this gives an overview.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Most investors look for startups in which they can find a return on their investment.

In the diligence and funding process, what the investor really wants is to not lose all their money.

They want to reduce risk to zero.  

As a startup raising funding, you can help the investor find confidence by showing the risk mitigation you have put in place.

For each concern, show how you’ve mitigated the risk.  For example:

How do we know the team will execute -- respond with “we’ve demonstrated execution so far with these results.”

How do we know we can sell the product  -- respond with “we’ve sold this much so far and will continue using the same process.”

Remember where the investor is coming from and show how the risk has been reduced, even though it’s not zero.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

I once read a sixty-five page business plan that talked about the startups’ services and the benefits that came from it.

After reading it, I met with the CEO and said, “This is great. What is it?”

I couldn’t figure out exactly what they were selling. 

From your pitch, investors want to know what your product is, not just your technology or benefits.

It should come near the beginning of the pitch as some investors have difficulty focusing on what you’re saying until they know what the product is. 

It’s important to show the product and define it clearly so investors know how you will approach the market.

If it’s a physical product, show a picture of it.

Make sure the product has a name. This helps establish it as a real thing in the investor’s mind, even if the product is still in development.

I once had a startup bring the physical casing of their product to hold up during the pitch. The case was empty, but the fact that there was a physical device to show made it seem real.

Say what it does in five words or less so the investor gets a high-level understanding of it.

Even if the product is not yet ready for sale, treat it like it has form and function now, just so investors can grasp what you are doing.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In raising funding you need to build a relationship with the investor and communicate your story. 

Both take time. 

It’s a numbers game. You have to put yourself in places to meet people.

Once you’ve met someone, you need to build on it with follow ups in email, calls, and meetings. 

If you wait too long between updates, the investor will lose the thread of your story.

It takes seven touches to close a sale, so it will take at least seven touches to close an investor.

There will be a great number of ‘no’s, so look at a ‘no’ as a chance to improve your pitch and your plan. 

It takes time to build a relationship so give yourself plenty of time to do so on your fundraise. 


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org


Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Investors look for some protection over the idea. Patents and trade secrets can help.

Half the value of a patent is for show, to investors.

In practice, it’s difficult to use patents as the sole means for protecting your business from the competition, but it can help.

If you have patents, investors want to know what was filed and when.  Was it a provisional patent, or a design patent, or a utility patent?

No one expects you to have awarded patents for utility or design patents, as the process typically takes over three years to complete.

If you don’t have any patents, it’s advisable to file a number of provisional patents so you can tell investors ‘we have patent pending technology’.

One advantage of provisional patents is that it gives you a year to figure out if patents can provide any reasonable protection and then file for a full patent.

You don’t have to pursue those patents if it doesn’t turn out to make business sense.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In raising funding, investors want to know what progress the company is making. 

After the initial presentation the investor wants to hear about progress in four areas:

Sales, team, product, and the fundraise.

For Sales -- show pipeline forecast, revenue increases, and key accounts going through the sales funnel.

For Team --  show the experience of the team and what team members are doing to move the ball forward on the business. 

For Product -- show the status of the product and how it is developing.  Show customer success stories as well as the customer ROI.

For Fundraise -- show the fundraise progress including interest, committed, and invested amounts.

Updates on the market size and growth and the competition status is not of interest.

The investor wants to know what you are doing. 

Focus on your updates on these four core items in each communication with the investor to give a sense of traction and momentum.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

Most startups focus on the product first and treat the customer as an after-thought. 

The investor knows that in the long run, customer revenue will make or break your business -- not the product. 

In every discussion with an investor you should give a customer update.

Even before you have a product you should be talking with customers about their needs and relaying that to investors.

As you build the product, you want to maintain customer interactions with you and your product and share that with investors.

Highlight to the investors, the customers’ problems and the solution they would like to see.

It’s important to show the investor that customers are with you on your journey and not something to be recruited later when the product is done.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

To pitch your deal you must first start with a prospect list of investors.

Include your contacts who are angels, family offices, and VCs.

Canvas your network for those who know angels, family offices, and VCs.

This is two degrees of separation which means warm introductions can work.

When it goes to three degrees of separation or more, then warm introductions no longer work.

Include local venture capital and formal angel network groups you have heard about.

Capture the names and emails of all the prospects and plan your approach for each one. 

After you’ve made contact and given the initial pitch, you want to keep those investors up to date on your progress with monthly mailers that are short and to the point.

Focus the mailers on core results related to sales, team, product, and fundraise. 

Avoid long stories as most investors want to know there are real results at play and will listen to the full story later.

Through a series of mailer updates, you can start to build a relationship with the investor.

It starts with a prospect list and it’s important to take the investors on the journey with you.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

The investor will look closely at the team in your startup.

In particular, they will look for skills and completeness.  Your team must have the skills you need to accomplish the work and you’re not missing anything important.

At the seed level, a complete team is someone who is building it and someone who is selling it.

No fair, everyone is building it and no one is selling it.

This is the most common mistake startups make thinking we must have a product before we can go sell it.  You should be selling it all the way through. You may not be generating revenue but you should be bringing the customer through the process just as you are doing so with the investor.

In later-stage firms, the team will expand but you can again summarize the team’s capabilities as -- do you have team members who are building it and those who are selling it?


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

The sign of a quality pitch is the simplicity in the message.

One test is, can you say your business in five words or less?

You should know your business well enough that you can boil it down to the core value proposition.

Here are some examples:

We make radiation hardened memories.

We provide you additional energy.

For TEN Capital we say, “We connect startups for funding.”

You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to communicate your message when you can say it in 5 words or less.

It’s a great way to introduce your company to investors and works well as a part of your elevator pitch.

In fact, it could be your tagline.

Try it for your business.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall is joined by Dana Myers, founder of Myers EV.

Myers EV builds and services electric vehicles, something that Dana states he has been obsessed with for decades. The mission of Myers EV is to “make electric vehicles affordable and practical to everyday people”.

Dana provides facts, statistics and comparisons between gas vehicles and electric vehicles. He explains the many advantages of owning an electric vehicle, one being that gas-vehicle sales will drop dramatically and will then be banned outright in many countries.

You can visit Myers EV at https://myersev.com/

Dana can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-myers-3029102/

He can also be contacted via email at dana@myersev.com

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In raising funding, you always start with your core network and increasingly expand the circle outward.

The list includes the following:

• Family
• Friends
• Coworkers
• Your service providers such as attorneys, accountants, etc.
• Past coworkers

As you progress through this list, you ask for referrals to second connections.

After your network is finished, you expand the circle further with:  

• Local angel networks
• Local VCs
• Local family offices
• National angel networks
• National VCs
• Some look at crowfunding portals.

And for later stage startups there are broker dealers.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.


For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/

For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
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In this episode, Hall welcomes Vinod Jose, founder of Konglo Ventures LLP. Konglo Ventures is a seed funding firm based in Cochin, India, with partner offices in Dubai and New York.

Since 2013, Konglo Ventures has invested in companies in India ranging from a healthcare platform utilizing acute disease management modules for early diagnosis, to a matchmaking app. Vinod is originally from India, but is now based in Philadelphia. As an experienced angel investor, he gives advice to both investors and entrepreneurs.

You can find Konglo Ventures at kongloventures.com  

Vinod can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-jose-04805b11/

He can also be contacted via email at vj@kongloventures.com

Hall is joined by investor and advisor Joy Schoffler. Joy has won numerous awards including Women Communicators “Outstanding communicator”, CEO Magazine “Entrepreneur of the Year” and Austin’s Under-40 award. She served as an officer in the Army Reserves & Texas State Guard.

Joy founded, ran and sold Leverage PR, one of the fastest-growing PR firms in America. Currently, she manages a portfolio of FinTech companies and real estate investments by determining where the most value can be added.

Visit her at at www.Joyschoffler.com

Joy can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyschoffler/  

She can also be contacted via email at joy@joyschoffler.com

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


Before you launch your fundraise campaign, prepare your business, investor documents, and your investor network.

For the business, check with your team, board, and investors to gain alignment.  Your fundraise launch should not come as a surprise to them. 

Prepare your documents including pitch deck, financial proforma, and diligence room.

Your financial proforma should layout how much you should raise and what you will accomplish with it.

If you’re not sure how to set this up, then write down your current revenue and the revenue you will have in 24-36 months.  From this you can extract how much funding you will need to raise and how many people you’ll need to hire.

Your pitch deck should tell the story of how your business makes money and why it will succeed.

Finally, prepare your investor network. Make a list of investors to contact including existing investors.

Setup a few initial meetings and tell the prospective investor you plan to launch a fund raise in 3 months.  This removes the pressure from the investor and often elicits feedback on how much to raise, how to structure the deal, and more.


Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.


For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
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Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.


For raising venture funding, first consider if you have a deal that’s in the game for venture funding by asking these questions:

Is it a high-growth company?

Is it scalable?

Do you have an experienced team ready to join?

Do you have a platform-based business, or is it a single product?

Do you have recurring revenue?

Do you have virality built into it?

Do you have network effects in it?

Are you addressing a large market?

Do you have a clear competitive advantage?

The more times you can answer yes to these questions, the more you have a venture business that qualifies for venture funding.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In considering a fundraise, think about your ultimate goal with the business.

Are you building a business that will be your lifestyle business for the next 20 years, or are you building a business that you plan to sell for a sizeable gain?

What’s the exit plan for my business?  How do you see it ending up?

What’s the timeline for the business?  Is it a going concern for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years?

If you know the exit plan of your business and how long it will take, then funding the business becomes much easier to sort out.

If you plan to keep the business as a cash flow machine for yourself, then revenue-based funding may be the way to fund it.

If you plan to sell the business for a nice return, then equity funding will be a good option.

If you don’t need much funding, then you could cash flow it from revenue. 

If you don’t plan to sell the business and need a small amount of funding, you could take out a loan and after you pay it off you have the business free and clear for whatever you want to do.

The key is to understand the overall game plan for the business and then decide how to fund it.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/|
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes Andrew Coors, CEO and Founder of Steelhead Composites which was founded in 2012.

During his career, Andrew has managed a multi-million dollar fund, held an executive position at a Fortune 500 Company and more. Steelhead Composites engineers, designs, manufactures and tests their products in-house in Colorado. They currently export fluid power/hydraulic accumulators, composite pressure vessels and gas storage to 26 countries. |

Andrew can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-coors-7615093/  
He can be contacted via email at acoors@steelheadcomposites.com 
You can find Steelhead Composites at http://www.steelheadcomposites.com/

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

How do you know if you need funding for your startup?

First, consider the type of business you are going to build and what it will take to get it up and running.

Are you setting up a services business? Or will it be a tech-enabled business? Or will it be a physical product business?

The type of business will determine the cash flow needs. 

Service businesses can be bootstrapped by using customer money to fund it.

Tech-enabled businesses typically need to raise funding due to the cost of building out the technology that drives it.

Physical product businesses need to raise funding along the way due to the cost of building product and inventory.

The second question is how fast do you plan to grow?

The faster the growth rate, the more funding you’ll need to grow it.

The slower the growth rate, the less funding you’ll need.

Consider these two questions to figure out how much funding you’ll need.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In raising funding it’s best to break the raise into milestones rather than raising the entire amount of funding in one go.

Milestones are typically broken out as follows:

Raise $250K from family and friends to build the initial product and stand up the business.

Raise $500K seed round from angel investors to finish the product and start engaging customers.

Raise another $500K from more angel investors in a seed+ round to fill out the team and solidify the business.

Raise $1M to $3M from venture capital to grow the revenue.

If you raise too much funding at the start of the business you’ll end up giving away too much equity.

It’s best to tranche out the raise and increase the valuation at each step.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes Military Veteran, Doug Doan of Hivers and Strivers.

Hivers and Strivers is an Angel Investment Group focusing on early-stage investments to support startup companies founded and run by graduates of the U.S. Military Academies. This group of investors is industry and geography-agnostic and they invest exclusively in companies with great leaders. 

You can find Hivers and Strivers at www.Hiversandstrivers.com

Doug can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-doan-75156bb/ or via email at doug@hiversandstrivers.com

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

I receive many a startup that tells me they’ve talked to everyone in their area to raise funding but they haven’t found all the funding they need.  What can they do?

When I started angel networks in the 2000s, they were mostly generalists that invested in local deals.  

Today, they are mostly specialists looking for specific criteria and they rarely find those deals in their backyard.

As investors scan nationwide for deals, so startups must start looking there as well. 

If you’re in a major startup hub such as the Bay Area or New York City, then you most likely can raise most if not all of your funding in your resident city.

If you’re not, then you need to take a country-wide perspective on your fundraise from day one. 

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

In this episode, Hall welcomes Josh Rasmussen of Monday Motorbikes.

Josh is the co-founder and CEO of Monday Motorbikes, an electric motorbike company which is based in California. The story of where Monday Motorbikes was founded is very similar to that of one of the Big Four technology companies in the world. Josh is driven by personal passion and an excitement to solve difficult problems associated with complex hardware.

You can find Monday Motorbikes at www.mondaymotorbikes.com

Josh can be reached in the following ways:

Email: Info@mondaymotorbikes.com, or investor@mondaymotorbikes.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joshrasmussen/

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

To launch your startup identify a large market then target a small segment of that market to attack first.

Choose your first segment based  on easy to access and a close fit to your initial product.

In other words, focus on your most ideal customer and then grow your business from there.

Most startups want to take on the world but their efforts are easily diffused.  

It can be difficult to be all things to all people in the early days of your startup.

You’re looking for wins, testimonials, and proof that customers will buy your product.  

Start with the ones who are the best fit and then expand the circle from there. 

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today.

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/

For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/

For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/

For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/

For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Securities law allows for startups to take investments from family and friends.  

On this episode of Startup Funding Espresso, Hall speaks about the relevant exemptions.

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gregory Bohlen of Union Grove Venture Partners.

Greg Bohlen co-founded Union Grove Venture Partners in 2014. Greg’s experience and relationships in the venture capital and investment banking communities have been developed over the past 30 years, and he has invested in over 50 venture-backed companies.

Here they speak about Grove’s most recent investment strategies and partnership criteria.

You can find Union Grove Venture Partners at https://ugvp.com/

Gregory can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-bohlen-0768232/

In this episode, Hall welcomes Maggie Sprenger of Green Cow Venture Capital. Green Cow Venture Capital is a venture capital firm that backs dynamic founding teams using greenfield technologies to solve big problems around scarcity and inefficiency.

Green Cow is sector agnostic, and all of their startups are trying to solve big global market problems around inefficiency and scarcity in their respective industries - they've coined the term Societal Infrastructure.

Maggie Sprenger has an extensive track record of more than fifteen years in venture and real estate investment. Fueled by a strong desire to make a positive impact, Maggie has a passion for applying her entrepreneurial and portfolio expertise to drive meaningful innovation. A San Francisco native, Maggie now calls New York City home.

You can find Green Cow Venture Capital at https://www.greencow.vc/

Maggie can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiesprenger/

How much equity should you give up to the investors?

Friends & Family Round: Less than 10% most often in the 5-6%
Angel Round: It’s 20-25%
VC Series A Round: 25% to 30%

It’s important to keep the founders motivated so if too much equity goes to investors, there’s little incentive for the founders to keep going.
As a startup, you want to see value from the investors in addition to funding.

Typically, family and friends can only help a little.

The startup can also use a convertible note which is a debt instrument that converts to equity later. This delays the valuation discussion until the startup has built products, closed customers, and the values in the business are more clearly defined.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!

In this episode, Hall welcomes Pieter Dorsman of Angel Forum and E-Fund. Angel Forum is one of the longest-serving angel networks in Canada. They are a non-profit organization and presenting companies have raised over $35 million directly through their forum. Angel Forum also offers workshops to both entrepreneurs and investors.

E-Fund was founded to achieve consistently higher returns and more exits from angel investments. By investing via teams, they can do more due diligence, leverage the industry expertise of investors and provide post-investment advice to the companies they invest in.

Pieter is a seasoned advisor, investor, and mentor. He is also President & CEO of Redpeaks Management Inc., a consulting firm focused on advising technology companies on capital raising, M&A and restructuring activities and everything related.

Are you considering launching a Series A fundraise?

For startups not requiring FDA, you will need the following:
- A product with revenue, preferably above $500K/year
- A growth plan to reach $10M annual revenue
- A strong team with growth company experience
- A credible funding plan to maintain growth with reasonable burn rates
- An updated financial proforma showing your growth plan and use of funds
- A pitch deck showing your growth plan
 
If you are aiming for a target valuation, you may have to raise a Seed+ round of $500K to position the company with the proper KPIs and growth rates before pursuing the Series A.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let’s go startup something today!