14 Tips on How to Pitch and Get Funded [Webinar]
You made the leap. You’ve taken the steps to start your own business, and it’s more than just an idea. There’s only one problem: you don’t have the capital you need to get it off the ground or take it to the next level. You need investors. When it comes to pitching your business, you...
How to Raise Startup Funding from Unlikely Angel Investors
I’m not your average angel. I’m a mom, a full-time sales manager, and recruiter. I’m not active in an angel group. I don’t have an MBA and I don’t live in Silicon Valley. I live in a small town surrounded by farms and I made my first angel investment at 29 because my dad said...
5 Sure-fire Ways to Bomb Your Investor Pitch
Having delivered hundreds of pitches myself (and bombed a few), as well as coaching dozens of entrepreneurs on how to pitch, I’ve definitely seen some doozy pitches. I sometimes wish I’d had a video camera with me to create a funny compilation of all the bloopers—something I might have shared with entrepreneurs on how not...
12 Ways to Get Your New Product into a Major Retail Chain
What is one tip you have for getting a brand-new product into major retail chains? Getting a new, untried product into the market is tough. Major retail chains may not want to gamble on something brand new. To learn how other entrepreneurs managed to get their shiny new products into major chains around the country,...
Do You Know How to Pitch Your Startup in Social Situations?
You’ve struck stones together and you’ve finally seen a spark. You’ve worked hard to develop your ideas and build something worthy of faith and investment. But finding natural ways to pitch your startup may still seem like the most daunting task you’ve faced yet. Your elevator pitch, for all that it can be perfected, can come...
Got “Founder Fit”? If You Want Venture Capital, You Need It
A few weeks ago I spoke with Boris Wertz, founder of JustBooks, COO of AbeBooks and founding-partner of Version One Ventures. In as much as a scheduled interview with an angel investor can be, talking with Boris about what it takes to spark the interest of a venture capital firm was a coincidence. I’d reached out...
What Startups Need to Know About Exit Strategies
Startups looking for angel investors or venture capital (VC) absolutely need an exit strategy because investors require it. The exit is what gives them a return. Exit strategies related to startup funding are quite often misunderstood: The “exit” in exit strategy is for the money, not the startup founders or small business owners. The...
What My Startup Accelerator Taught Me About Pitching
The culmination of an entrepreneurship accelerator is the opportunity to pitch investors on your business. After my business partners and I spent eight weeks in a startup accelerator at the JFE Network, we got the chance to show off Credential Cabinet to a room full of attentive investors. Pitching was a great experience. We told...
