This is Investor Perspectives. I’m the host of Investor Connect, Hall T Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding.

In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled “How to Solve the Biotech/Life Sciences Problem”, you’ll hear about growth in the biotech/life sciences segment.

As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new world. The biotech space is now undergoing tremendous change as we shift back to a normal way of life. The process for designing and approving vaccines demonstrated a new protocol. Biotech now moves into a new era. We have investors and startup founders describe the changes coming up.

Our guests are:

Yaniv Sneor, Co-founder, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels, 01:18
Carter Williams, CEO and Managing Partner, iSelect Fund, 05:05
Maximilian Bade, Founding Partner, Nucleus Capital, 07:35
Ron Paliwoda, President, Paliwoda Group, 10:34
Orrin Ailloni-Charas, Managing Partner, Global Health Impact Fund, 16:36
Eyal Lifschitz, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Peregrine Ventures, 20:31
Mark Groper, Chief Executive Officer, Orion Biotechnology, 29:20

I hope you enjoy this episode.
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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/  
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Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

The process of raising funding brings the startup founder several intangible benefits.

Here is a short list:

Fundraising forces you to think through your business strategy and articulate it clearly.

Investors will challenge your strategy requiring the founder to defend it.

The pitch elicits feedback from the investors which often improves the plan.

While entrepreneurs look at the opportunity in the deal, the investor looks at the risk.

Investors highlight the risks and the challenges to overcome.

This feedback sharpens the pitch.

Investors also provide feedback on the market, team, product, and other aspects that help refine the strategy.

The pitch presentation expands the circle of those who know the business and can potentially help in the future.

Consider the additional benefits that come from raising funding, which is a better business plan and a broader network of contacts.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Wes Barton, Founder and Managing Partner at Third Prime.

Headquartered in New York, New York, Third Prime is a venture capital firm focused on identifying and investing in seed-stage companies that are using technology to develop business models with the potential to disintermediate incumbents within the fintech and proptech sectors.

Prior to founding Third Prime, Wes spent nearly 9 years as a Vice President at Trimaran Capital Partners, a private equity firm based out of New York City, where he underwrote and managed private investment opportunities across diverse industries. While at Trimaran, he also worked with Trian Partners, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund, to identify and invest in public distressed equity and credit opportunities.

Before Trimaran/Trian, Wes spent 2 years as an investment banker with Bank of America advising public and private technology and media companies on corporate strategy and capital market initiatives and practiced law in the M&A department at the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP where he represented companies and investment firms with respect to acquisition and disposition of assets and broader corporate matters.

Wes received his J.D. from Duke School of Law in 2002 and his undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University in 1999.

Wes discusses his investment thesis and some of the startups he has invested in which fit that thesis. He shares some of the challenges they face in launching their businesses and suggests some good opportunities for investors to pursue.

You can visit  Third Prime at www.thirdprime.vc, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/15189541/admin, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/thirdprimevc. 

Wes can be contacted via email at wes@thirdprime.vc, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/wes-barton, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/farmer_vc.

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

In raising funding, the startup should be doing as much diligence on the investor as the investor is doing on the startup.

Start by checking out the portfolio of the investor and making contact with CEOs who have been funded by the investor.

Ask the CEO about their experience with the firm. 

Most VCs tout their entrepreneur-friendly mantra and how much they can help the startup. 

In addition to funding, VCs provide strategy, recruiting, business development, and future funding. 

Ask the CEO about their experience with the VC in these areas.  

Also, check their experience in negotiating the term sheet with the investor.

Look for examples of non-standard behavior such as lock-up terms, and a last-minute change of terms in the negotiations.

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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Neetu Puranikmath, Early-Stage Investor.

Neetu is an experienced investor, operator, and startup advisor. Neetu worked at Alumni Ventures Group as a pre-seed/seed investor where she focused on Fintech and SaaS. Previously, she was Chief of Staff for a Fintech startup and worked in operations at YouTube, Google, and Facebook. She is a former 501(c)(3) founder and has been a mentor for the Clinton Foundation, First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, and Texas’ NewChip accelerator. She graduated with a Bachelor in Political Science from UC Berkeley and received her MBA from the University of Oxford.

Neetu advises startups and investors and shares how she sees the startup industry evolving. She discusses some of the challenges startups and investors face, alternative financing options in the early-stage ecosystem, and she shares her investment thesis.

Neetu can be contacted via email at neetu.puranikmath@gmail.com. 

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

In approaching venture capital, it’s important to know something about the VC’s sweet spot for funding.

By reviewing the VC’s website, you can see their portfolio.

By reviewing their portfolio companies, you can get a sense of the stage and sector of deals they invest in.

The best way to learn about a VC is by contacting one of their portfolio companies.

From the CEO, you can find out more about how the VC supports their companies and what strengths they bring to the table.

Knowing the VC’s sweet spot will save you a tremendous amount of time and help you focus on the ones who are a good fit.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Dr. Eric Tait, Founder and Fund Manager at Vernonville Asset Management (VAM).

Vernonville Asset Management is a private investment firm created to provide investors the opportunity to invest in real assets. Their focus is creating and maintaining investor wealth through alternative investment strategies. Returns are generated for their clients by directly investing in companies and development teams with a proven track record of profitable operations along with experienced management.

Eric is a physician who is board-certified in Internal Medicine. Under Eric, VAM has grown to over 100 million dollars in assets internationally and domestically, these include the Hilton Curio Resort in Belize, numerous Triple Net Commercial and Light Industrial assets, multi-family apartment homes, student housing, specialty coffee farms in Boquete, Panama, and dozens of single-family homes, private lending funds, and angel investments. Eric is also the Founder and Managing Partner of Urban Capital Network, an investment firm that partners with top quartile Venture Capital firms to allow access to non-traditional venture investors. Eric attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. At Morehouse, Eric was very involved in the Health Careers Society and mentoring elementary school children in math and science.

After college, Eric relocated to Houston to attend Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones School of Management and Baylor College of Medicine where he received his dual-degree M.D./MBA. During his tenure at Rice, he worked for Aetna Healthcare as special assistant to the Senior Network Medical Director for the Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware region. Eric graduated from Rice University with an MBA in Healthcare Management and a concentration in Entrepreneurship.

Upon graduation from Baylor College of Medicine, Eric attended the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for his internship and residency in Internal Medicine. Eric is in private practice and is currently on the medical staff of Saint Joseph Medical Center in Downtown Houston.

Eric is also President of Pinnacle Physician Management Organization, a member of Key PAC, and is also involved with numerous community-based organizations in the Greater Houston region like The Morehouse College Alumni Association. Eric’s interests include reading, entertaining, and spending time with his wife Claudine and young daughters Kiran and Lena.

Eric shares with Hall what excites him now in the industry and advises startups and investors. He discusses the state of startup investing post-COVID-19 and speaks about his investment thesis.

You can visit Vernonville Asset Management at www.vernonville.com.

Eric can be contacted via email at eric@vernonville.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/eric-tait-m-d-mba-b2581a5/, and via www.urbancapitalnetwork.com.

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

Startup founders need time-management skills to run a business.

Here’s a list of key skills successful founders have:

1. Can set up daily routines and repeat them consistently.
2. Can prioritize tasks doing the most important ones first.
3. Can delegate tasks to others when others are better suited for those tasks.
4. Can use time management techniques such as Pomodoro and others.
5. Can plan the work and then work the plan consistently.
6. Can mitigate distractions from social media, email, and other sources.
7. Can focus on a singular task and avoid multitasking.
8. Can simplify projects to their essential components and focus on those.

In this attention-demanding economy, it takes strong time-management skills to succeed.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Dr. Hector Jirau, Chief Investment Officer at Jirau Capital Management.

Headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jirau Capital Management is a scientist-led investment advisory firm at the intersection of breakthrough science providing exposure to the latest advancements in healthcare and innovation. Jirau Capital Management is the first and only investment advisory firm in Puerto Rico combining quantitative methods with evidence-based science.

Hector holds a B.Sc. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). He completed a Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Biochemistry at the UPR School of Medicine, focusing on the discovery of novel metabolic pathways for polygenic respiratory disorders. Dr. Jirau also holds a Master’s degree (MSc.) in Financial Engineering, specializing in risk management in financial derivatives. He has experience managing alternative investments, especially with the successful launch of pooled investment vehicles, such as a biotechnology long-short equity hedge fund and an early-stage venture capital fund expected to deploy capital in Q4 2021. He currently serves on the board of different seed-stage ventures in the healthcare/technology sector.

Hector speaks about the growth and primary trends in the biotech/life sciences segment. He also discusses his participation in the segment and what he looks for when investing.

You can visit Jirau Capital Management at www.jiraucapital.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/jirau-capital-management/.

Hector can be contacted via email at hector@jiraucapital.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/hjirau, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/PhDInvestor. 

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

Startup founders need strategy skills to run a business.

Here’s a list of key skills successful startup founders have:

1. Business model design - the founder can review a situation and develop a business model to create a profitable business.
2. Buy vs. build - the founder can decide between buying a solution or building it from scratch.
3. Growth management - the founder knows when to press forward for growth and when to maintain the current run rate.
4. Product management - the founder knows how to expand the product line and when.
5. Resourcefulness - the founder knows how to get the most out of the situation and applies resourcefulness to do so.
6. Experimentation - the founder is constantly examining new strategies to grow the company.
7. Measurement - the ability to measure the results to see how a strategy is working.

The founder needs to apply strategic thinking to every aspect of the company, mission, product development, hiring, marketing, and sales.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Robert Norton, CEO at AirTight Management.

Headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, AirTight Management prepares and assists entrepreneurs in launching new companies and products, scale through consulting, and training and coaching to create high-performance cultures. 

Robert has been a serial entrepreneur since 1989. He has founded and scaled several companies as CEO and in four exits earned investors over $1 billion in profits just while at those companies. Today, these companies generate billions annually. He is also a speaker, author of two books, over 125 articles, and over 360 studio-produced videos on these topics, trained thousands of CEOs from 35+ countries, and is a thought leader in entrepreneurship, innovation, and scaling of companies.

Robert has grown two startups to over $100M in sales, Thomson Financial Services, and HomeView ($156M) in five years each. HomeView was the first HD, virtual touring company for residential real estate and achieved a 78% market share in only 18 months. Both companies disrupted their industries with six successful products out of six. Robert has now created over 80 products and helped with hundreds. He specializes in entrepreneurship and scaling companies that can become $100M+ with impact and has helped over 200 companies start and/or scale.

As a board member, adviser, and coach, Robert has doubled and tripled the growth rate at many client companies in short order leading Organization Change Management (and Development OCM/OD) and adding tens of millions in valuation to individual clients in months.

Robert discusses the steps to creating and the benefits of sustainable competitive advantages, how the business model impacts it, where intellectual property comes into play, and more.

You can visit AirTight Management at www.airtightmgt.com, at and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/airtight-management/.

Robert can be contacted via email at bnorton@airtightmgt.com, via www.ceobootcamp.us/, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/robertjnorton/.

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

Startup founders need problem-solving skills to run a business.

Here’s a list of key skills to develop:

1. Critical thinking - ability to analyze the key factors around a situation and find the real problem to be solved.
2. Decision-making - ability to choose the right solution and see it through to implementation.
3. Lateral thinking - can think outside the box and come up with solutions that take into account other factors.
4. Creativity - ability to generate solutions by brainstorming and looking for similar models and sources of inspiration elsewhere and applying to the problem.
5. Determination - ability to test and try several solutions to find the right fit. 
6. Adaptability - ability to adapt to new situations and try new solutions.
7. Self-discipline - ability to stay focused on the problem until you find the right solution.
8. Positivity - ability to stay positive about finding a solution and not giving up.
9. Curiosity - ability to apply curiosity to the problem to spur new solutions.
10. Networking - ability to connect with others to find a solution.

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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Tim Marx, Venture Partner at Baird Capital. 

Baird Capital makes venture capital, growth equity, and private equity investments in strategically targeted sectors around the world. They are value creators who identify exceptional opportunities and partner with senior industry executives to build world-class companies. Their in-depth sector knowledge, deep relationships with entrepreneurial management teams, and global network of 60 investment and operating professionals in the United States, U.K., and Asia help ensure that they consistently drive value in their portfolio companies. 

Tim supports Baird’s fund's efforts to identify, diligence, and support venture capital investments in healthcare as well as industry-agnostic technology and tech-enabled services companies in the Texas market. Additionally, Tim works at a Houston-based blockchain startup, Topl, that supports digital transformation across the supply chain by providing trust and transparency to its customers’ ESG claims across multiple industries (agriculture, metals and mining, energy, retail, etc.). Topl also incorporates decentralized finance applications that arise from the ability to monetize in a variety of ways the impact being created.

Tim continues to support select clients in an advisory capacity as well as to serve as an Investment Committee member to the TMC Venture Fund, in addition to other advisory roles across multiple startups and small companies.

Prior to his current slate of activities, he was at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) from 2001 to 2018, leaving as a Partner and Managing Director. Tim is a graduate of Penn State University, holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the ITESM in Mexico.

Tim shares his investment thesis and advises investors and entrepreneurs. He discusses how he sees the industry evolving and the biggest change he expects to see in the coming year. 

You can visit Baird Capital at www.bairdcapital.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/baird-capital-partners-europe-limited/.

Tim can be contacted via email at tmarx@rwbaird.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/timothymarx.

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

Startup founders need emotional intelligence skills to run a startup.

Emotional intelligence helps the founder control emotions and empathize with others.

Here are the key components for building those skills:

Self-awareness - this is the ability to know yourself and recognize your strengths, weaknesses, and limitations.

The more you know yourself, the more you can work around your weaknesses to achieve your goals.

Self-regulation - this is the ability to recognize your emotions and control them.

The stronger your self-regulation, the more control you have over your responses to challenging situations.

Social skills - the ability to influence others to be more empathetic.

This comes in the form of communication, persuasion, and collaboration skills.

Social skills help you connect to others and bond with them.

Empathy - the ability to understand others intellectually rather than emotionally, which is sympathy.

Empathy helps the founder understand the team on a deeper level and provide appropriate responses.

Motivation - the ability to drive forward through challenging situations.

Founders need to understand what motivates the team members which can be financial, personal, or otherwise.

Founders need strong emotional intelligence skills to lead the team, manage conflicts, and motivate the team members.

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  

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

Startup founders need to be visionary to run a startup.

Vision starts with seeing a business opportunity and applying a solution to solve it.

The founder clarifies the vision and shapes it into a platform, product, or application.

This informs the founder of all business decisions going forward.

It starts with knowing the industry and current solutions in the market.

The solution must be unique and competitive with advantages over competitors.

The vision should establish a unique product in the market.

Over time, the founder refines the vision with changes in the market.

The founder uses storytelling to communicate the need and the value that comes from the vision.

The founder must sell the vision to everyone including the team, customers, and partners.

The founder is part evangelist selling and promoting the idea.

The market must be able to see the value that comes from the vision.

The vision must inspire others to learn more and then join the effort. 

The vision is captured into the company’s tag line, mantra, and mission statement.

The vision must be established for the long term as it will undergo many refinements and clarifications.

For startup founders, vision is a key element you’ll need to run your business in the early days.  


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Kenneth Alan Goodwin, General Managing Partner and Founder at Jeanensis Ventures.

Headquartered in New York City, New York, Jeanensis is a capital markets advisory and digital asset management firm that focuses primarily on advising multi-nationals and mid-market firms.

Jeanensis has developed its expertise and continues to grow its partnership, alliances and clientele alike, in fintech and regtech, innovation and technology, artificial intelligence [AI], blockchain-enterprise, and digital asset management.

Ken is a widely sought-after executive with global banking and capital markets experience - achieving results in venture capital, digital transformation, big data, innovation and technology, and risk management. Ken advises large multinationals and mid-level capital firms and executives in executing multi-billion (USD) business development and institutional partnerships agreements in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Ken is a TEDxTALKS Speaker, a 10 to Know Global Game Changer, U.S. White House Business Council/Forward member, Aspen Institute Nakasone and Mike and Maureen Mansfield Fellow, Ph.D. Project Member, Ronald E. McNair Scholar, and Harvard Model Congress Member.

Ken is a globally recognized lecturer with over 30+ courses and 700+ students as a college adjunct professor on Economics of CryptoAssets, Blockchain Investment, International Trade, Forensic Methods, and Corporate Ethics.

Ken is a trailblazer with a history of firsts that include:

1st foreigner to monitor JGBs on the floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE/JPX)
1st curator of the Women Leaders in Blockchain Symposium (NYC)
1st curator of the Urban Leaders in Blockchain Symposium (NYC)
1st curator of the Globally Local FinTech, AI and Blockchain Symposium (Wealth & International FinTech 2020 Award)

Ken discusses his investment thesis, what excites him now in the blockchain industry, how he sees the industry evolving, and some of the challenges startups face.

You can visit Jeanensis Ventures at www.linkedin.com/company/jeanensis/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeanensis.

Ken can be contacted via email at kennethgoodwin@jeanensis.net, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/akennethgoodwinjr/.

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need general business skills to run a startup.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

• Ability to make decisions in a timely manner.
• Ability to take risks on new ideas, people, and strategies.
• Ability to communicate in a clear and precise manner.
• Ability to show confidence in your business plan and team.
• Ability to show competitiveness in the market.
• Ability to show creativity in designing products and offering solutions to problems.
• Ability to delegate basic responsibilities and tasks to others.
• Ability to stick with the project through defeats and failures.
• Ability to show discipline in achieving goals.
• Ability to learn new things including technologies, processes, and markets.
• Ability to identify business opportunities when they arise.
• Ability to set up a plan and execute it.
• Ability to sell yourself and your ideas.
• Ability to manage your time efficiently and effectively.

For startup founders, these are the general skills you’ll need to run your business in the early days. 


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 

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Andrea Belz, Division Director at the National Science Foundation.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense...". The NSF is vital because they support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future. This type of support is a primary driver of the U.S. economy, enhances the nation's security, and advances knowledge to sustain global leadership.

With an annual budget of $8.5 billion (FY 2021), the NSF is the funding source for approximately 27 percent of the total federal budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.

Andrea joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) in May 2019. Previously, she served as Vice Dean for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering, as well as Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Technology) of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She was previously a Visiting Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. From 2014 to 2019, Andrea was the Founding Director of Innovation Node-Los Angeles, a regional hub for the NSF I-Corps program. She has worked with many university startups and investors, most recently representing a major angel investing group on the board of a Caltech spinoff laser manufacturer until its acquisition in 2018. 

For nearly 20 years, Andrea has advised universities, corporations, and other organizations on commercialization opportunities as managing member of the Belz Consulting Group. Her recent research has focused on technology ventures, from startups through publicly funded launch programs to private funding. Andrea has authored or co-authored dozens of refereed articles, peer-reviewed conference presentations, and proceedings on technical topics and innovation, and she authored a book on product development. Belz earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland at College Park and doctoral degree at the California Institute of Technology, both in physics; she earned her master's degree in finance at Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business.

Andrea discusses the state of startup investing, the biggest change she expects to see in the next 12 months, and some of the challenges entrepreneurs and investors face.

You can visit the National Science Foundation at www.nsf.gov, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/national-science-foundation/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/NSF.  

Andrea can be contacted via email at abelz@nsf.gov, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/andreabelz/.  

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need management skills to run a startup.

Here are some key skills to have:

Ability to wear multiple hats at one time since there’s not enough revenue to fill every role.

Can hire and manage the team members. 

Ability to set strategy and direction for the team.

Can develop and execute on short-term and long-term plans.

Ability to metric the processes of the business and manage accordingly.

Can resolve conflicts with employees, customers, and investors.

Understands the tradeoffs in making business decisions.

Can see the needs of each role and the resources that need to be supplied.

Have a general knowledge of technology, marketing, finance, legal, and HR for running the business.

Ability to learn new technology including business automation, collaboration, and data management.

Ability to communicate effectively with the team, investors, and customers.


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

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

Startup founders need to develop leadership skills to run a startup.

Here are some key skills to have:

Know your market and research the competition well.

Demonstrate confidence in difficult situations and be able to make decisions and see them through.

Ability to build a strong team and support them.

Encourage entrepreneurship and innovation within your team and provide compensation accordingly.

Bring a strategic mindset to the group and show others how to think strategically.

Be honest with your team and others.

Maintain humility by admitting you don’t know everything.

Show empathy to your team to demonstrate you understand the challenge they face.

Be accountable for the results even when things go wrong.

Spend more than half the time listening rather than talking when engaging the team, customers, and others. 


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

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Krishna Srinivasan, Founding Partner at LiveOak Venture Partners.

LiveOak Venture Partners is a venture capital fund based in Austin, Texas. With 20 years of successful venture investing in Texas, the founders of LiveOak have helped create nearly $2 billion of enterprise value. While almost all of LiveOak's investments begin at the seed and Series-A stages, LiveOak is a full life cycle investor focused on helping create category-leading technology and technology-enabled service companies headquartered in Texas. LiveOak Venture Partners has been the lead investor in over 30 exciting high-growth Texas-based companies in the last seven years including ones such as CS Disco, Digital Pharmacist, OJO Labs, Opcity, and TrustRadius.

Krishna has been investing in early-stage Texas-based companies and entrepreneurs since 2000. His current and past board involvements at LiveOak include CS Disco, Hive9, Homeward, Imandra, OJO Labs, Rollick, Telestax; Digital Pharmacist, Opcity, and StackEngine.

Prior to co-founding LiveOak, Krishna was a Partner at Austin Ventures. There, he worked with companies in enterprise software and infrastructure solutions segments. Prior to that, Krishna was with Motorola where he wrote large-scale optimization software for supply chain planning and worked with a variety of business units on strategic and operational issues.

Krishna received his MBA from Wharton where he graduated with the highest academic honors as a Palmer Scholar. He holds an MS in Operations Research from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, having graduated with the highest all-around honors.

Krishna currently serves as Chairman of the Miracle Foundation board, an Austin-based organization that supports orphanages in India, and is one of the founding members and a past board member of TiE Austin. He is a board member of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas.

Krishna discusses his investment thesis and some of the companies within his portfolio that fit the thesis. He advises startups and investors and shares some of the challenges they face.

You can visit LiveOak Venture Partners at www.liveoakvp.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/liveoak-venture-partners, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/liveoakvp?lang=en. 

Krishna can be contacted via email at krishna@liveoakvp.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/krishnasrinivasan1/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/krishnasrini?lang=en.  

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

Startup founders need conflict management skills to run a startup.

Conflicts arise among the team members for the following reasons:

They come from differing beliefs and viewpoints.  

In the short term, the founder can separate the team members to reduce the friction.

They also come from team members who feel their input has not been heard or valued.

The founder can take steps to show how the work and input of the team member has been heard and has importance.

The team member believes they’ve received an unfair evaluation.

The founder can standardize the evaluation process and show specifically how the team member is doing.

The team member believes the manager has unrealistic expectations.

The founder can show how others are handling the tasks and suggest ways to accomplish the work.

The team member doesn’t receive any feedback and comes to believe their work doesn’t count.

The founder can set up regular meetings to review the team members' work and give feedback.

The role of the founder is to encourage the team members to join in a collaboration to work through the problem.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Kevin Kaylakie, Founder & CEO at SineCera Capital.

Located in Austin, Texas, SineCera Capital is a boutique multi-family office and wealth advisory firm focused on delivering sophisticated investments, independent advice, and trusted relationships to a select group of ultra-high net worth clients.

SineCera Capital provides families with access to an ecosystem of solutions and skilled professionals that help bring clarity, confidence, and purpose to their financial decision-making process. 

Kevin has spent the last decade of his career working exclusively with high-net-worth families and business owners. He currently oversees both the investment advisory and wealth management functions for SineCera Capital. He attended Auburn University where he earned his BSBA in International Business. He has also earned the Certified Financial Planner and Certified Private Wealth Advisor, designations through advanced studies at The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

As a native and dedicated Austinite, Kevin has volunteered with many local organizations including Hospice Austin, The Capital Area Dental Foundation, The Seton Fund, Austin Opera, The Mary Claire Project, Emmaus Catholic Parish, and The Diocese of Austin.

When he is away from the office, he enjoys spending time with his wife and their five children. Kevin is an avid reader, marginal golfer, amateur woodworker, and enjoys recharging at his family’s ranch in the Texas Hill Country.

Kevin advises investors and entrepreneurs, discusses what excites him now in the industry, the state of investing in startups, and his investment thesis.

You can visit SineCera Capital at www.sineceracapital.com/, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/sineceracapital.

Kevin can be contacted via email at kevin@sineceracapital.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkaylakie.

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Ryan Falvey, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Financial Venture Studio.

Financial Venture Studio invests in the best early-stage fintech companies and provides the access and insights founders need to build transformational companies. They provide a bespoke program when investing at an early stage, introduce seed-stage portfolio companies to leaders in the financial services, regulatory, media, and venture capital communities and it’s working:

- FVS companies have raised nearly $200m in follow-on capital since they launched in late 2018.

- Within 6 months of completing the program, 88% of their portfolio companies raised follow-on capital at an average valuation increase of over 2x.

- FVS companies have grown to serve millions of consumers and tens of thousands of enterprise and SMB customers.

Financial Venture Studio is also raising its second fund and recently launched its latest cohort of startups.

Ryan has spent the last 15 years identifying, supporting, and leading market-changing innovations in technology. Since 2015, he's invested in 40 early-stage fintech firms, which have grown to represent approximately $3 billion in aggregate equity value. Prior to founding Venture Studio, Ryan led the development of the Financial Solutions Lab, a partnership between JPMorgan Chase and the Financial Health Network. Before managing the Lab, Ryan worked with leading tech firms to develop payment solutions at Silicon Valley Bank. He also served as Strategy Group Lead at Enclude Solutions, overseeing global strategy consulting work around mobile-enabled financial products.

Ryan discusses how the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) industry is evolving. He advises investors and entrepreneurs and shares some of the challenges they face.

You can visit  Financial Venture Studio at www.finventurestudio.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/financial-venture-studio/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/financialstudio?lang=en. 

Ryan can be contacted via email at ryan@finventurestudio.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-falvey/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryan_falvey?lang=en.

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

Startup founders need human resource skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

Can identify talent that matches the company’s strategy.  

This includes defining the jobs with roles and responsibilities.

Ability to find and recruit the right people for the position.

This includes assessing the skills candidates have.

Can craft employment agreements. 

This includes defining compensation, benefits, and other concerns such as intellectual property protection.

Can set up a program to onboard employees.  

This includes setting them up with the company systems, introductions to other employees, and access to their workspace.

Can set up programs to engage the employees.

This includes establishing all-hands meetings, group functions, and weekly social activities.

Can set up programs to retain the employees.

This includes regularly scheduled performance reviews and employment issue management.

Even in the early stages of a startup, these are important steps to take.


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

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Lucas Caneda, Global Team Lead & Director at Uniqorn Incubator.

The largest rural incubator-accelerator of its kind in the world, UNIQORN features an eclectic team of seasoned professionals with a proven track record in taking technology startups from inception all the way to exit.

UNIQORN's attractiveness is built around comprehensive incubation and acceleration services for technology startups. They encourage project leaders from all over the world to come and settle in Sarlat, a fascinated ecosystem for startups to succeed. They also act as a potential media investor in the startups they accept to incubate and accelerate.

A student of engineering, management, economics, and self-taught in nutrition and fitness, Lucas has always had a very keen interest in business, entrepreneurship, and personal development

He is a professional rugby player for Sarlat Rugby Team. Lucas grew up as a die-hard rugby fan and started playing at the tender age of 5. Despite suffering what many thought would be a career-ending knee injury, he moved to France and built a career as a professional rugby player. After a few years in France, Lucas joined the Sarlat Rugby Team and the incubator's rugby program.

Lucas discusses his background, his criteria for startups, and some of the challenges he faces running an incubator.

You can visit Uniqorn Incubator at https://uniqornincubator.com/, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/uniqorn-incubator/mycompany/. 

Lucas can be contacted via email at lucas@uniqornincubator.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/lucascaneda/,  

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

Startup founders need some technical skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

1. Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets - you’ll use this for budgeting, forecasts, and numerous other applications.
2. Data analysis - you should be familiar with Google analytics and other basic analytic tools to gather information about your sales and marketing efforts.
3. Basic coding skills - you should be able to read HTML to make changes and update your website.
4. WordPress - you may outsource the design and setup of your website but you should know enough about the backend to make text changes and minor updates.
5. Design tools - you need to be familiar with design software for making logos, presentations, and other content pieces.
6. Cloud - you should have a working knowledge of cloud tools since it’s the place you store your documents, run applications, and host your data.
7. Collaboration tools - you should be able to use collaboration tools as it’s the primary method for communicating with others. 
8. CRM automation - you should be able to set up emails and responders.

A founder does not have to be a specialist in technology but should have basic technical skills to run office automation, websites, and other systems.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Lee Shapiro, Managing Partner at 7wireVentures.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, 7wireVentures is dedicated to building and investing in early-stage digital health companies supporting an informed connected health consumer.

Lee served as Chief Financial Officer of Livongo Health until November 2020. He serves on the boards of Senior Connect, a special purpose acquisition company focused on the aging space, Clover Health, and Click Therapeutics. He is also active with and serves on the board of many of the 7wire portfolio companies.

Prior to stepping in as CFO of Livongo and leading its 2019 IPO, Lee served on the board of the company since its launch, chairing the audit committee and as a member of its compensation committee. During his tenure as CFO, Livongo also had a successful secondary offering, raised $550M in convertible debt, and entered into a merger agreement at the highest valuation of any healthcare technology deal, based on revenue multiples.

Lee served as president of Allscripts from 2001 through 2012. He is a co-founder and board member of The World Innovation Network, the University of Chicago Innovation Fund Advisory Committee, and the Samsung Digital Health Advisory Board. Based on his industry experience, he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a published contributor to the Forbes Business Council.

Lee has been a member of the National Board of Directors of the American Heart Association for a number of years and is currently its treasurer. Lee earned his JD degree from The University of Chicago Law School and a BS in Accounting from The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Lee advises entrepreneurs and investors, shares what excites him now in the industry, and discusses his investment thesis. 

You can visit 7wireVentures at www.7wireventures.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/7wire-ventures, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/7wireventures?lang=en.  

Lee can be contacted via email at lee@7wireventures.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/leeshapiro/.  

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

Startup founders need some accounting skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

Accounting vs. bookkeeping - bookkeeping is entering revenues and expenses into the proper accounts. Accounting is generating the income statements and balance sheets, along with filing tax returns.

Accounting methods - know the difference between cash vs. accrual accounting.

Cash-based accounting recognizes revenues when it is received, while accrual accounting recognizes it when it is earned. 

Recurring revenue businesses need to watch for this as annual subscriptions should be recognized over each month the service is provided.

Record keeping - you should be able to enter transactions, reconcile accounts, pay vendors, and review outstanding invoices.

Have an accountant set up the system with the chart of accounts, but know how to run the system and read the reports.

You should be able to calculate your runway, cash burn, and cash balance at all times.

Payroll taxes - you should know how payroll taxes work and how they impact your cash flow.

Income taxes - you should know the taxes you’re required to pay and when and how that impacts your cash flow as well. 

Workforce commission - you should know how the workforce commission works for your area and the laws around it.

Basic accounting is important in understanding how to generate and read the documents that show the health of 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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Gerard van Swieten, Managing Partner at LvS Partners.

Laursen van Swieten (LvS) specializes in funding and executing the international expansion of innovative growth-stage companies. They are especially active and experienced in Asia/China expansion. They make active expansion investments to establish footholds outside of home markets. LvS works in 3 fast-growing sectors: healthcare and biotechnology, industry 4.0, and media & entertainment.

Mr. van Swieten is a Dutch national and has been working and living in China/Asia for 12+ years. He has extensive experience in cross-border trade and investment in FMCG, manufacturing, IT, and finance.

Before founding LvS Partners, Mr. van Swieten was a partner at Mandarin Hill Capital and IJK Capital. During his tenure at both Mandarin Hill Capital and IJK Capital, Mr. van Swieten led the China expansion for multiple portfolio companies in solar, healthcare IoT, and media and entertainment sectors. Prior to that he served as Head of Legal of BRF SA for Asia, Europe and Africa after having worked as an attorney in Amsterdam at Clifford Chance and in Shanghai at HIL.

Mr. van Swieten holds a Masters in Dutch law from Maastricht University, a Masters in Chinese law from Hong Kong University, and an MBA from Tsinghua-MIT Sloan.

Gerard discusses expansion investment, advantages of this strategy over other value-added strategies, the primary trend in Asia/China expansion for ‘Western Companies’, and changes he expects to see in the coming 12 months.

You can visit LvS Partners at www.lvspartners.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/lvs-partners.  

Gerard can be contacted via email at gerard@lvspartners.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/gerard-van-swieten  

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need some financial skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

1. For business modeling - ability to calculate the unit economics of your business model including cost of customer acquisition and lifetime value of customer.
2. For fundraising - ability to calculate pre and post-money valuations and the impact of dilution on the investors.
3. For forecasting - ability to generate a three-year financial forecast showing the fixed and variable costs and the impact at various revenue levels.
4. For budgeting - ability to set up a monthly budget matching the forecast with indicators of over and under.
5. For performance monitoring - ability to capture key performance metrics.
6. For cash-flow management - ability to capture all cash inflows and outflows to determine the runway and monthly cash burn.
7. For financial controls - ability to set up credit limits and other stopgaps on spending.
8. For profitability - ability to calculate gross margin and profit margins and set plans to improve over time.
9. For financial literacy - ability to read an income statement, balance sheet, and capitalization table.

For startup founders, these are the basic skills you’ll need to master to run your business in the early days.  


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Andreea Danila, Founding General Partner at Global Millennial Capital.

Global Millennial Capital was established by Andreea in 2019, backed by the Al Attiyah family office. It is the first female-founded venture capital investor from the Middle East to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in the investment process. They invest in global scalable, tech-enabled, and highly transformational consumer-centric early-stage opportunities in Silicon Valley.

The fund is expected to have 50 bets and uses the Rounding Theory to make investments. 

Andreea is an award-winning entrepreneur, venture capitalist, investor, and board member of various portfolio companies in Silicon Valley including Envel, Unifymoney, Elly Health, Blue Studios, PathBooks, Millennial Beauty among others. She is the Senior Executive Officer within the Qatar Financial Center and Private Investment Fund Director with the financial services commission in BVI. Andreea is a Harvard Business School alumni and holds an MBA from HULT International Business School, Finance and Entrepreneurship, and a diploma from MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Andreea discusses what excites her now in the industry. She advises investors and entrepreneurs and shares some of the challenges they face.

You can visit Global Millennial Capital at www.globalmillennialcapital.com/, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/millennialcapital/.

Andreea can be contacted via email at andreea@millennialvc.co, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/andreea-danila. 

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need some legal skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

1. Legal Entity - ability to set up an LLC or C-Corp for your business with proper articles of incorporation.
2. Cap Table - ability to set up the cap table with initial ownership of the founder, co-founder, and seed investors.
3. Trademark - ability to trademark the company name. 
4. Web Domain - ability to find and register the company domain name.
5. Family and friends funding - ability to take funding from non-accredited investors with SEC compliance.
6. Tax IDs - ability to set up a bank account with tax ID information for the company.
7. Employee vs. Contractors - ability to distinguish between an employee and a contractor for classification and tax treatment.
8. Legal Support - ability to identify the proper legal support needed for contract law, employment law, and other.
9. Legal Documents - ability to set up employment agreements, contracts, stock options, and board and shareholder resolutions and reports. 
10. Intellectual Property - ability to file a provisional patent in advance of filing design and utility patents.
11. Terms of Service - ability to create terms of service agreement for clients and customers.
12. Employment Agreement - ability to create an employment agreement with confidentiality and invention assignment contracts.
13. Recruiting requirements - knowing how to avoid asking questions that are prohibited by law.
14. Firing employees - ability to know how to fire an employee staying within legal requirements. 

For startup founders, these are the basic skills you’ll need to master to run your business in the early days.  


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Pano Anthos, Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs.

XRC Labs is a startup accelerator and venture fund dedicated to fostering the next generation of disruptors in the retail technology and consumer goods sectors. 

The NYC-based company launched in 2015 with its founding sponsor, the Parsons School of Design at The New School. Having invested in nearly 100 startups, XRC Labs has built a world-class ecosystem with corporate sponsors including Mastercard, The Estée Lauder Companies, CVS Health, and more than 330 business mentors.

As the former leader of the digital practice at Eaglepoint Advisors, Pano enjoyed the challenge of understanding how far retail was from digital excellence and served in a number of interim roles from CEO, to Chief Product Officer and Chief Digital Officer for media companies, retail, consumer durable goods, and industrial companies.

Under Guided Launch, he advised or co-founded 4 digital media and software companies. including Gather Education, an ed-tech company building virtual reality classrooms that serve the 3G market. Prior to co-founding Gather Edjucation, Pano co-founded Hangout Industries, which was the first to bring video game technology and name brands to Facebook in 2007 and grew the Hangout Facebook apps to millions of users, leveraging: media brands (e.g. NBA, Conde Nast); fashion brands (Steve Madden, Abigail Lorick, Rich and Skinny Jeans), and lifestyle brands (Red Bull and Skull Candy). They were a Techcrunch 50 finalis,t and MITX Digital Media winner for "Best Use of Technology" in 2008.

Previously, he co-founded two enterprise software companies, Pantero, which sold to Progress Software at 13x trailing revenues & Syntra/Clearcross, bootstrapped to over 1000 customers in 30 countries with one of the first commercially available web services (1999) that was licensed into Oracle ERP and embedded in their ERP suite.

Pano discusses his investment thesis, advises startups and investors, and shares what he thinks are good opportunities for investors to pursue.

You can visit XRC Labs at www.xrclabs.com/, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/xrclabs, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/xrclabs/.  

Pano can be contacted via email at www.xrclabs.com/contact, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/panoanthos/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ptanthos.  

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need recruiting skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

1. Ability to define the jobs to be done with the requisite skills.
2. Ability to identify qualified candidates in the market that meet the requirements.
3. Can engage the candidates to discuss a position in your startup.
4. Ability to evaluate skills and assess fit for the company.
5. Can rank order the candidates.
6. Can negotiate compensation and employment agreements.
7. Ability to onboard the candidate and integrate into the company.
8. Can help the new hire pick up the position and be successful in it.
9. Ability to help the employee reach their full potential.
10. Can set up a program to retain the employee. 

These skills are necessary to grow your business as the company depends on the employees it hires.


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  

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In this episode, Hall welcomes Graham Forman, Founder and Managing Director at Edovate Capital.

Edovate Capital is a seed and early-stage venture capital company whose leadership invests in companies that lead innovation in the education market. They know firsthand the pains and gains of growing early-stage companies into successful firms and they have passion and experience in the education market. They look for outstanding people to partner with for the long term who have products or services that will transform education.

Edovate Capital partners with social entrepreneurs to scale companies solving education’s hardest challenges. They identify capital-efficient education technology companies tackling education’s hardest challenges, fund their growth, and help increase their impact. They have backed industry-leading K12 companies including Pear Deck, LearnPlatform, Paper Education, Kiddom, and BookNook Learning.

Graham spent his career in education, entrepreneurship, and investing. The first phase of his career was in education policy where he worked for U.S. Senator Paul Simon and former California State Assemblyman, Senator, and Community College Chancellor Jack Scott. He worked with school leaders addressing some of their biggest challenges in leading large school systems.

The second phase of his career was as a startup operator serving as head of sales, marketing, business development, and customer success in impact-focused SaaS companies serving education. His last role included leading sales and business development for Netchemia. During his tenure, the company grew to serve more than 2,400 school districts and 20,000 schools in the U.S. with a best-in-class talent management suite. Netchemia was acquired by People Admin (backed by Vista Equity Partners) in 2015, which kicked off Graham’s third career phase where he founded Edovate. In this role, he backs impact-focused seed-stage K12 companies with investment and advisory support.

He lives in Denver with his wife and two children and enjoys travel, tennis, the outdoors, and cooking.

Graham discusses the rise of the edtech sector, classroom engagement, next-generation school segments, the primary trends in the sector, Edovate Capital’s participation thus far, and more.

You can visit Edovate Capital at www.edovatecapital.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/edovate-capital/.  

Graham can be contacted via email at graham@edovatecapital.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/grahamforman/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/grahamforman. 

Music courtesy of Bensound. 

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

Startup founders need marketing skills.

Here’s a list of skills to bring to your startup:

• Ability to analyze and choose a market segment to pursue
• Can create a story around your startup that sells
• Can define a position in the market and communicate it
• Ability to contrast and compare the company to the current competition
• Can generate content relevant to the target market for blog posts and social media
• Ability to set up the website for SEO
• Can track marketing programs with conversion to sales
• Ability to leverage email for marketing the company
• Can leverage social media for the target market
• Ability to build and leverage an influencer network
• Can write and launch a press release

Marketing is key to branding the company and selling the product.

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  

Music courtesy of Bensound

In this episode, Hall welcomes Elisa Miller-Out, Managing Partner at Chloe Capital.

Chloe Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in women-led innovation companies.

Despite recent progress, only 2% of female founders receive venture capital funding, with only 0.2% going to African American founders.

Chloe Capital is on a mission to change that in partnership with foundations, universities and corporate innovators. They travel across the U.S. as part of the #InvestInWomen Tour, moving capital to female founders in each city we visit. Their fundraising experiences for women entrepreneurs and impact investors spotlight innovation, connect founders and investors to resources, and build community.

The firm invests in seed-stage companies with at least one woman in the C-suite receiving a fair amount of equity. Companies should have a working prototype, with the potential to disrupt macro industries including SaaS, blockchain, AI, VR/AR, IoT, cleantech, agtech, hardware, edtech, wearables and/or robotics.

Elisa is an exit-tested serial tech entrepreneur, investor, board director and community builder. She has over 20 years of experience, including 10 years in the software product space. She’s had 2 exits and 2 acquisitions and has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, TechCrunch and more. Her career spans multiple startups and global fortune 500 companies. She serves on the board of Women 2.0, Singlebrook and BAX and is co-founder of PollQ, a chatbot startup for higher ed. She’s a graduate of Columbia University.

Elisa discusses her investment thesis and advises startups on what to do before raising funding.

You can visit Chloe Capital at www.chloecapital.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/chloecapital/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/chloecapital. 

Elisa can be contacted via email at elisa@chloecapital.com, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/elisamillerout/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ElisaMillerOut.  

Music courtesy of Bensound.

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

Startup founders need sales skills.

Here’s a list of sales skills to bring to your startup:

1. Can craft a compelling story about the startup to sell to investors, prospective employees, partners, and others. 
2. Knows the competition and the other choices the prospect has.
3. Knows the customer’s language, whether it be company-specific or industry-specific.
4. Understands the customer’s problem. 
5. Spends twice as much time listening as talking.
6. Ability to probe for the customer’s careabouts.  
7. Ability to set up a sales funnel and bring prospects through it one step at a time. 
8. Ability to ask for the sale.
9. Can generate social proof to show how others have succeeded with the product.
10. Can turn sales into a repeatable process that becomes a core system within the company.
11. Can set up sales compensation plans with proper incentives.

Many investors look for basic sales skills in the founder before funding the startup.


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  

Music courtesy of Bensound

In this episode, Hall welcomes Kim Banham, Principal at Connetic Ventures.

Connetic Ventures is an early-stage VC that uses proprietary data and machine learning to remove bias, increase efficiency, and create transparency. They view themselves as a data company that happens to invest in startups. Venture capital is inefficient, biased, and relies heavily on human capital, which makes it nearly impossible to scale. To solve this issue, Connetic Ventures created Wendal. Wendal is their AI bot that helps them analyze companies and teams. Wendal is reinventing venture capital by removing 'The Pitch' and giving all founders and companies a fair shot at being funded.

Kim is responsible for investments in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Her background in organizational communications and business finance allows her to build relationships with investors as well as startup companies. Kim enjoys traveling, but after living abroad in Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, and Hungary for 8 years, she is happy to call Northern Kentucky home. Kim is passionate about funding female and minority founders and treating all founders equally. 

Kim shares what excites her now in the industry. She advises investors and entrepreneurs and shares some of the challenges they face.

You can visit Connetic Ventures at www.connetic.ventures and https://wendal.io/, via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/connetic-ventures/, and via Twitter at www.twitter.com/conneticVC.  

Kim can be contacted via email at kim@connetic.ventures, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kim-banham-05b039138/.  

Music courtesy of Bensound.

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

Writing is a key skill every entrepreneur should have.

Email, social media, website copy, and more, all rely upon good communication.

Here are some key points to remember:

It’s not about you, it’s about your reader and what this will do for them.

Write the way you talk in a normal, conversational tone.

Summarize your message in just one or two sentences.  

If you can’t sum it up, then you don’t have a clear message to communicate.

Gain clarity on your message then rewrite it.

Avoid the story format as it takes longer and buries the lead.

Write it once, and then review and rewrite it several times. 

Remove adverbs and other extraneous words.

Use numbers where possible as it makes the message stronger and more compelling.

Writing takes practice and is a skill that will help you greatly in 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  

Music courtesy of Bensound

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

In managing deal flow, the key to winning the best deals is responsiveness.

Startups submitting their deal are looking everywhere for funding and you’re just one option among many.

Here are some key points to consider:

Automate the initial response to a deal submission with an email acknowledging the sender.

Customize the follow-up with the sender’s name.

Make clear how your deal flow process works. 

Set expectations as you proceed as some startups get overly excited when they’re only 10% through the process.

Provide a point of contact for the startup in case there’s a breakdown in communication.

Once qualified, set up a call with the startup to discuss their deal.

Make clear what information you need for diligence.

In each step, provide timely information about the process with the next steps.

Apprise the startup of their status with your group to reduce the “where are we at” calls.

Maintain responsiveness throughout the process.

A quality deal-flow process burnishes the reputation of the firm and generates more deal flow.

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  

Music courtesy of Bensound

In this episode, Hall welcomes Riley Oickle, Owner and CEO of Riley Oickle Investments.

Investing in real estate can be a stressful endeavour. Without systems and processes in place, chaos can set in quite quickly and money can be lost. For those of you that are ready to do your first investment deal but are fearful of the unknown, a joint venture is a fantastic option. Becoming a joint venture partner with Riley Oickle real estate investor is a great opportunity to get an understanding of real estate investing, while also owning equity in a property.

Riley Oickle is a graduate from Western University where he studied Business & Kinesiology while competing in Varsity Track & Field.  From the age of 18 to 24, he started multiple businesses including ‘Home Maintenance London’ & ‘RO Business Consulting’ which combined,  surpassed $2 million in revenue. Since then, Riley still operates his businesses from afar, and now focuses his career in real estate investing full-time. He is passionate about helping people take their first step toward financial freedom through the investment vehicle of real estate.

Riley advises investors and discusses where he sees the real estate industry going. He speaks about his investment thesis and some of the challenges investors face.

Riley can be contacted via email at info@rileyoickle.com, via his website at www.rileyoickle.com, and via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rileyoickle.

Music courtesy of Bensound.