recently rated:

Rated by 20

2.6 2.8 3.6 2.8 3.2

3.0

Storm Ventures, Inc.

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

top rated funds:

Rated by 17

3.0 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.5

2.7

Advanced Technology Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Waltham, US East

Rated by 11

2.6 2.7 2.9 2.6 2.0

2.6

Oak Investment Partners

 

$$$$$ Westport, US East

Rated by 20

2.4 2.2 3.9 2.0 2.5

2.6

Seraph Group

 

$$$$$ US East

Rated by 11

2.9 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.6

2.6

Sequoia Capital India

 

$$$$$ Bangalore, Asia / Pacific

Rated by 12

2.4 2.8 2.6 2.2 2.8

2.6

El Dorado Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 11

2.6 2.8 3.2 2.5 2.2

2.6

Boulder Ventures

 

$$$$$ Boulder, US Central

Rated by 37

2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5

2.6

US Venture Partners (USVP)

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 26

2.7 2.6 2.9 2.6 2.4

2.6

Atlas Venture

Certified

$$$$$ Londond, Asia / Pacific

Rated by 21

2.6 2.3 2.9 2.8 2.2

2.6

Crosslink Capital

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 25

2.9 2.7 2.7 2.1 2.4

2.6

Edison Venture Fund

Certified

$$$$$ Lawrenceville, US East

Rated by 41

2.5 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.4

2.6

General Catalyst

 

$$$$$ Cambridge, US East

Rated by 10

3.0 2.3 2.1 1.8 3.2

2.5

Tallwood Venture Capital

 

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 11

2.8 2.4 3.2 1.8 2.4

2.5

Arboretum Ventures

 

$$$$$ Ann Arbor, US Central

Rated by 19

3.2 2.3 2.6 1.9 2.6

2.5

Austin Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Austin, US Central

Rated by 12

2.8 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.5

2.5

Carmel Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Herzliya, ME / Africa

Rated by 37

2.5 2.3 2.5 2.8 2.6

2.5

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 13

2.5 2.4 2.0 2.7 2.4

2.4

The Angels Forum

 

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 30

2.0 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.2

2.4

Ignition Partners

 

$$$$$ Bellevue, US West

Rated by 22

2.7 2.5 2.3 2.1 2.5

2.4

Giza Venture Capital

 

$$$$$ Tel Aviv, ME / Africa

Rated by 15

2.4 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.3

2.4

Maveron

Certified

$$$$$ Seattle, US West

Rated by 23

2.6 2.2 2.7 2.2 2.5

2.4

Alloy Ventures, Inc.

Certified

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 14

2.7 2.3 2.5 2.0 2.0

2.3

Greycroft

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 16

2.3 2.0 2.6 2.4 1.9

2.2

Granite Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 19

2.7 2.2 1.7 2.0 1.9

2.1

North Bridge Venture Partners

 

$$$$$ Waltham, US East

Rated by 29

2.4 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.1

2.1

DCM-Doll Capital Management

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 19

2.1 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.2

2.1

Greenhill SAVP

Certified

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 18

2.1 2.1 2.1 1.7 2.5

2.1

GrandBanks Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Newton Center, Canada

Rated by 15

2.5 1.9 2.1 1.8 2.0

2.1

Summit Partners

 

$$$$$ Boston, US East

Rated by 13

2.1 2.2 1.6 2.0 2.2

2.0

Golden Seeds

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 13

1.7 1.7 1.9 2.2 1.9

1.9

Artiman Ventures

 

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

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It's an easy trap to fall into. You've labored on your powerpoint presentation, you got nice graphics into it, you followed Guy's advice http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/t..., you practiced your pitch, and now you're ready to rock and roll.

You're a little nervous but feeling good. You go in and start your presentation, and you're on slide two, and the VC asks "What's the business model here""
No problem, you're ready for him. "I'll get to it on slide 7, let's go through the product first."

Stop! I know it' s hard to change the flow, but expect to do it. Go ahead and jump to slide 7 and give him 10 seconds to read the slide and then explain the model. 10 seconds should be enough since you don't have that much text on a slide, or you shouldn't and even if you did, it wouldn't matter since most VCs have ADD and won't take more than 10 seconds to read anything. The one exception is anything related to finance. But to get back to my main point (VCs are not the only ones with ADD), focus on what the other side is interested in and answer the questions in the order that they are presented.
Usually, one question will lead to the next and you'll find that you're referring to the presentation as support material rather than guiding the discussion.
So why do you need the powerpoint deck" As I just mentioned, it's support material, but it also helps you make sure you've covered everything. When things slow down in the conversation or when your time is almost up, go back through the presentation, and double check that you haven't missed any critical information.
As part of the conversation you'll hear some criticism or doubt about your product, your direction or something else in the presentation. Your gut reaction is to argue, mine is. They're not getting it. Stop yourself. Instead ask question to help you clarify why their thinking is different than yours. There are several reasons to do this.
1. They don't know your company and probably the space it's in nearly as well as you do. On the other hand, they've been exposed to a lot more companies than you have. You're getting free advice. Listen to it and try to absorb. I've talked to three VCs in the last 4 weeks, and two of them gave me good insight which helps me fine tune my model.
2. If they have this objection other VCs might have it too. Listen, learnd and maybe next time you do a pitch you'll be better prepared to answer this issue, or tackle it in your presentation.
3. Arguing has the potential of making you look defensive and uncooperative. Will they really want to invest in someone with these traits.

Having said that, if they challenge one of the basic assumptions of your plan and you've considered and rejected their arguments, it's perfectly OK to present this. "Yes, we've heard from other people that they thought that the markets can't be any bigger than 250,00 users, but actually a Gartner report in Feb of 2008 shows that there are at least 5,000,000. The reason the market is understimated is that most of these people are in Asia and the web analytics don't count them."
Here you scored a point. You thought of the problem researched it, and can provide supporting data.

In summary, try to reach a good balance of give and take. Talk about your product, show that you're excited about it, but listen. I certainly try to.

Traction is the buzzword of fundraising these days. It is required by many, and understood by few. Here is an attempt at defining traction for all parties in the fundraising cycle.

1. The Idea: How strong is the fundamental idea and underlying revenue model" Does it make complete sense, and is it backed up by published industry data"

2. The Team: Have you assembled a group of domain experts that can execute the idea and the model" How seasoned are the experts that you have assembled"

3. The Prototype: Do you have a prototype of your offering that is compelling to the target audience" How polished is the prototype"

4. The Launch: What is the reaction among trade journals and other media outlets regarding your product launch" Is it well covered and well regarded"

5. The Adoption: How many target customers have adopted your offering and is the growth rate substantial" Are you experiencing a high level of customer satisfaction or a concerning level of churn"

6: The Revenue: Have you started to derive revenue from your offering and is that revenue either ahead or behind or model assumptions" What variables have changed from your assumptions"

7. The Profitability: How profitable or near profitable is your model once in operation, and are there untapped revenue opportunities for future revenue growth"

8. The IPO: How long until you can take your company public, assuming two years of fast growth, audited financials, and profitability or near profitability"

Most venture capitalists, for better or for worse, tend to invest in phases 4 and 5. VCs like the potential upside without the too much details from phase 6, though many investments occur at the start of phase 6, before any details can be conclusively determined. Any other thoughts"

This is basic advice, applicable to any sales situation and a mistake people often make. If you are meeting a potential client (or investor) first make sure they are interested in your product (your company) and agree to go out again (meet again) and provide more background on yourself (your materials) before trying to to sneak into the bedroom and score (discuss terms). Often times terms come up early, I'd recommend saying "first lets see if we click before talking specifics" and drag it out a bit... a meeting or two .... before talking numbers. This way, you know there is an actual interest, potentially leading to a term sheet before entering any type of negotiation which can cause the whole thing to go sour if there is a disagreement. However, if you already are all over each other, you're more likely to settle the disagreement then storm away unhappy. This holds true for selling anything. First gain interest, then sell. Many people just jump the gun and try to sell before knowing if they customer wants anything and while it can work, it changes the tide of leverage.