Why do some startups get funded? What makes for the best pitch? How does the process work?
DocSend recently teamed up with Professor Tom Eisenmann from Harvard Business School. Together, we conducted research that gave us the answers to those questions. We studied the fundraising of 200 startup companies as they went through their Series Seed and Series A rounds. Altogether, these companies raised more than $360 million.
Why this data is awesome:
Fundraising is a historically opaque endeavor. There’s very little data available and most advice tends to be anecdotal. DocSend is in the unique position of being able to quantitatively analyze the interaction between founders and investors, and tie that to fundraising outcomes in a statistically meaningful way.
Why we built this report:
DocSend aims to help companies share documents in a smarter, safer, and more impactful way. We believe this research is in service of that mission and can help push the startup ecosystem forward as a whole.
Background on DocSend:
DocSend helps sales people track and control documents they send to clients. We’ve also become very popular amongst founders in the fundraising process. Hundreds of startups have used our platform to circulate pitch decks to investors.
Ready to ditch email attachments and put your pitch materials to work for you?
Sign up for a free plan at docsend.com
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
Y Combinator Pitch Deck Template For Startup FoundersAA BB
The document provides a template for how founders should structure their seed funding presentation decks. It recommends keeping the decks concise by focusing on the narrative and avoiding excessive detail. The template then provides a fictional example deck following the guidelines, with placeholder slides about the benefits of the deck template, metrics showing its impact, the business model, and future plans. It concludes asking for $1.5 million in funding to hire engineers and for marketing.
The investor presentation we used to raise 2 million dollarsMikael Cho
The investor presentation we used to raise 2 million dollars for ooomf.com (now pickcrew.com)
View the online version here: https://pickcrew.com/investors/
ChangeforCause is a startup that aims to create a frictionless process for donating to charities through a mobile app. The app allows users to round up debit/credit card purchases and donate the change to selected charities. It also provides rewards and social features to encourage donations. The founders are seeking $200,000 in funding to develop a public beta of the app and cover initial operating costs. Validation surveys found strong interest in the round-up donation concept and ease of use of a prototype app.
The Best Startup Investor Pitch Deck & How to Present to Angels & Venture Cap...J. Skyler Fernandes
Take the online video course on Udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/course/the-best-startup-investor-pitch-deck/?referralCode=A5ED0FBD65120A93A16E
3.5+hrs of video content, walking step by step each part of the pitch, with personal VC stories, examples, and advice.
The "Best" Startup Investor Pitch Deck is an aggregation of some of the best pitch decks and wisdom from some of the top angels, VCs, and entrepreneurs including my own person insight/experience. The slide deck includes a template for entrepreneurs to use to present to investors, with details on what should be addressed on each slide. There are also additional slides on how best to pitch to investors effectively, how to design and format slides, and what to do before the pitch.
Coinbase pitch deck designed by Zlides
Want to create a pitch deck that inspires your audience? Get your FREE presentation kit designed by Zlides: http://bit.ly/slideshare_zlides
This document summarizes a platform that allows users to create customized maps of communities and interests. It started with 20,000 unique users and 18,000 monthly alerts. The platform has since received many requests to build maps for different interests around the world. The document outlines the business model, which includes organizing map data and monetizing through advertising, premium listings, and a potential SAAS model. It provides a timeline showing past pilots and plans for future mobile and discovery features. The team is seeking $1M in funding to further develop their self-service platform.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
Y Combinator Pitch Deck Template For Startup FoundersAA BB
The document provides a template for how founders should structure their seed funding presentation decks. It recommends keeping the decks concise by focusing on the narrative and avoiding excessive detail. The template then provides a fictional example deck following the guidelines, with placeholder slides about the benefits of the deck template, metrics showing its impact, the business model, and future plans. It concludes asking for $1.5 million in funding to hire engineers and for marketing.
The investor presentation we used to raise 2 million dollarsMikael Cho
The investor presentation we used to raise 2 million dollars for ooomf.com (now pickcrew.com)
View the online version here: https://pickcrew.com/investors/
ChangeforCause is a startup that aims to create a frictionless process for donating to charities through a mobile app. The app allows users to round up debit/credit card purchases and donate the change to selected charities. It also provides rewards and social features to encourage donations. The founders are seeking $200,000 in funding to develop a public beta of the app and cover initial operating costs. Validation surveys found strong interest in the round-up donation concept and ease of use of a prototype app.
The Best Startup Investor Pitch Deck & How to Present to Angels & Venture Cap...J. Skyler Fernandes
Take the online video course on Udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/course/the-best-startup-investor-pitch-deck/?referralCode=A5ED0FBD65120A93A16E
3.5+hrs of video content, walking step by step each part of the pitch, with personal VC stories, examples, and advice.
The "Best" Startup Investor Pitch Deck is an aggregation of some of the best pitch decks and wisdom from some of the top angels, VCs, and entrepreneurs including my own person insight/experience. The slide deck includes a template for entrepreneurs to use to present to investors, with details on what should be addressed on each slide. There are also additional slides on how best to pitch to investors effectively, how to design and format slides, and what to do before the pitch.
Coinbase pitch deck designed by Zlides
Want to create a pitch deck that inspires your audience? Get your FREE presentation kit designed by Zlides: http://bit.ly/slideshare_zlides
This document summarizes a platform that allows users to create customized maps of communities and interests. It started with 20,000 unique users and 18,000 monthly alerts. The platform has since received many requests to build maps for different interests around the world. The document outlines the business model, which includes organizing map data and monetizing through advertising, premium listings, and a potential SAAS model. It provides a timeline showing past pilots and plans for future mobile and discovery features. The team is seeking $1M in funding to further develop their self-service platform.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
This was our final Series A deck. Read more about raising the round in this blog post:
https://medium.com/@DanielleMorrill/welcome-brad-feld-to-the-mattermark-team-announcing-our-6-5m-series-a-dd9532fc1b39
The slide deck we used to raise half a million dollarsBuffer
This is the pitchdeck we used to raise half a million dollars from Angel investors. More here:
http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/98034/The-Pitch-Deck-We-Used-To-Raise-500-000-For-Our-Startup.aspx
Pemerintah mengumumkan rencana untuk membangun pusat perbelanjaan baru di pusat kota untuk mendukung pertumbuhan ekonomi. Rencana ini mendapat dukungan dari kalangan bisnis tetapi ditentang oleh kelompok lingkungan karena khawatir akan mengganggu ekosistem setempat. Perdebatan masih berlanjut mengenai dampak sosial ekonomi dan lingkungan dari rencana pembangunan tersebut.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already suffer from conditions like depression and anxiety.
The document discusses the benefits of meditation for reducing stress and anxiety. Regular meditation practice can help calm the mind and body by lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Studies have shown that meditating for just 10-20 minutes per day can have significant positive impacts on both mental and physical health over time.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against developing mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already have a condition.
We help publishers promote their iPhone apps. Instead of screenshots or pre-recorded video, publishers can embed interactive iPhone app demos on any web page.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
The document outlines Square's business proposition of providing a simple and low-cost way for merchants to accept credit card payments using a mobile device. Key points include:
- Square charges merchants a flat 2.75% fee per transaction with no setup costs or monthly fees.
- The company has experienced rapid growth, processing over $1 million in payments per day.
- Square targets small businesses and individuals by offering a simple interface and device that plugs into smartphones.
- Backed by experienced founders and investors, Square aims to become the dominant platform in mobile payments by acquiring new merchants through wide exposure and competitive pricing.
Download this at bestpitch.es/yc-pitch-deck
The prestigious Y-Combinator accelerator program is known for being the launchpad for countless billion-dollar "unicorn" startups over the last decade, such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Instacart, Twitch, & many more.
A few years ago, the YC team released an (extremely) simple pitch deck template to help guide founders, based on what worked for decades of YC startups.
While not every founder can present their pitch deck in as simple terms as the likes of Airbnb & other YC stand-outs, their template is nevertheless a fantastic starting point for framing a winning investor presentation.
This adapted version of the YC Pitch Deck template was crafted for founders seeking to win funding &/or investment for their early-stage startups. Our team of experts added a professional design touch to the YC pitch deck formula, while preserving their focus on simplicity — something we have first-hand experience with, having consulted for several YC alums over the last 5+ years.
Available at bestpitch.es/yc-pitch-deck
Adapted from ycombinator.com/library/2u-how-to-build-your-seed-round-pitch-deck
Alan is a digital health insurance startup in France that aims to become a leader in health insurance and disability insurance for small and medium businesses and freelancers. It has developed a fully digital product that allows companies and individuals to sign up for health insurance online in just 5 minutes. Its goals are to become the leader in France for these markets, expand into 2 new European countries by 2020, and integrate additional healthcare products and services to simplify management.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Mint House's $35M Series B deckHajeJanKamps
This document provides a summary of Mint House, a company that operates tech-enabled extended stay hotels and facilities. Some key points:
- Mint House was founded in 2017 and currently has over 145 employees and operates in 16 markets with 26 properties.
- It uses an asset-light management agreement model with high gross margins and minimal capex requirements. Over half of bookings are direct and repeat customers comprise 14% of bookings.
- Mint House properties provide a superior customer experience compared to traditional hotels, with amenities like fully-equipped kitchens, digital check-in, and strong customer satisfaction scores.
- The company is experiencing rapid growth and outperforms traditional upper-upscale hotels
Stripe pitch deck designed by Zlides
Want to create a pitch deck that inspires your audience? Get your FREE presentation kit designed by Zlides: http://bit.ly/slideshare_zlides
The 10 most interesting slides that helped our SaaS company raise 9 millionGoCanvas
Have you ever wondered what goes into a pitch deck? Or what slides matter? Here are the 10 slides that seemed to resonate most with VCs we met with our our journey to raising our latest $9 million in funding. Be sure to check the notes for explanations of each slide.
The document discusses a collaboration tool called Scrintal that aims to improve productivity for knowledge workers. It highlights how teams currently spend over 70% of their time on non-value adding tasks like searching for information across different apps. Scrintal provides a single visual workspace to help teams streamline their processes and work 10x faster. It has seen rapid growth through word-of-mouth referrals and aims to expand its product and reach over 1 billion knowledge workers.
Bliinx aggregates business interactions between professionals and their contacts so that they can get up to speed on relationships without jumping through a bunch of platforms. They also generate company-wide relationship insights that boost business development initiatives and customer ROI.
- Email was originally designed for individual use, not team collaboration, so the company built the first shared email client to enable features like canned responses, automated rules, reminders, and analytics.
- The shared email client now has 2300 companies as customers across many industries using it for functions like customer support, operations, and sales. Usage and revenue have grown consistently while churn has decreased.
- Moving forward, the company aims to continue improving their platform and adding more users to increase value, with goals of positive operating margins by end of 2019 and $xx in ARR by end of 2018. Their long term vision is to become an extensible platform beyond just messaging.
Imagine a culture where the input of the whole organization turns an individual idea into a user story in just a couple of hours, where everybody's goal is to make the customer’s job easier and more effective, and where you work on projects you love instead of projects you loathe. A great coding culture concentrates on making developers productive and happy by removing unnecessary overhead, bringing autonomous teams together, helping the individual programmer to innovate, and raising awareness among developers about how to create better code.
I will talk about how to establish and foster a strong engineering-focused culture that scales from a small team to a huge organization with hundreds of developers. I'll give lots of examples from our experience at Atlassian to show that once you're working in a great coding culture, you won't want to work anywhere else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAk04-_M-JM&feature=youtu.be
This was our final Series A deck. Read more about raising the round in this blog post:
https://medium.com/@DanielleMorrill/welcome-brad-feld-to-the-mattermark-team-announcing-our-6-5m-series-a-dd9532fc1b39
The slide deck we used to raise half a million dollarsBuffer
This is the pitchdeck we used to raise half a million dollars from Angel investors. More here:
http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/98034/The-Pitch-Deck-We-Used-To-Raise-500-000-For-Our-Startup.aspx
Pemerintah mengumumkan rencana untuk membangun pusat perbelanjaan baru di pusat kota untuk mendukung pertumbuhan ekonomi. Rencana ini mendapat dukungan dari kalangan bisnis tetapi ditentang oleh kelompok lingkungan karena khawatir akan mengganggu ekosistem setempat. Perdebatan masih berlanjut mengenai dampak sosial ekonomi dan lingkungan dari rencana pembangunan tersebut.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already suffer from conditions like depression and anxiety.
The document discusses the benefits of meditation for reducing stress and anxiety. Regular meditation practice can help calm the mind and body by lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Studies have shown that meditating for just 10-20 minutes per day can have significant positive impacts on both mental and physical health over time.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against developing mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already have a condition.
We help publishers promote their iPhone apps. Instead of screenshots or pre-recorded video, publishers can embed interactive iPhone app demos on any web page.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive functioning. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms.
The document outlines Square's business proposition of providing a simple and low-cost way for merchants to accept credit card payments using a mobile device. Key points include:
- Square charges merchants a flat 2.75% fee per transaction with no setup costs or monthly fees.
- The company has experienced rapid growth, processing over $1 million in payments per day.
- Square targets small businesses and individuals by offering a simple interface and device that plugs into smartphones.
- Backed by experienced founders and investors, Square aims to become the dominant platform in mobile payments by acquiring new merchants through wide exposure and competitive pricing.
Download this at bestpitch.es/yc-pitch-deck
The prestigious Y-Combinator accelerator program is known for being the launchpad for countless billion-dollar "unicorn" startups over the last decade, such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Instacart, Twitch, & many more.
A few years ago, the YC team released an (extremely) simple pitch deck template to help guide founders, based on what worked for decades of YC startups.
While not every founder can present their pitch deck in as simple terms as the likes of Airbnb & other YC stand-outs, their template is nevertheless a fantastic starting point for framing a winning investor presentation.
This adapted version of the YC Pitch Deck template was crafted for founders seeking to win funding &/or investment for their early-stage startups. Our team of experts added a professional design touch to the YC pitch deck formula, while preserving their focus on simplicity — something we have first-hand experience with, having consulted for several YC alums over the last 5+ years.
Available at bestpitch.es/yc-pitch-deck
Adapted from ycombinator.com/library/2u-how-to-build-your-seed-round-pitch-deck
Alan is a digital health insurance startup in France that aims to become a leader in health insurance and disability insurance for small and medium businesses and freelancers. It has developed a fully digital product that allows companies and individuals to sign up for health insurance online in just 5 minutes. Its goals are to become the leader in France for these markets, expand into 2 new European countries by 2020, and integrate additional healthcare products and services to simplify management.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Mint House's $35M Series B deckHajeJanKamps
This document provides a summary of Mint House, a company that operates tech-enabled extended stay hotels and facilities. Some key points:
- Mint House was founded in 2017 and currently has over 145 employees and operates in 16 markets with 26 properties.
- It uses an asset-light management agreement model with high gross margins and minimal capex requirements. Over half of bookings are direct and repeat customers comprise 14% of bookings.
- Mint House properties provide a superior customer experience compared to traditional hotels, with amenities like fully-equipped kitchens, digital check-in, and strong customer satisfaction scores.
- The company is experiencing rapid growth and outperforms traditional upper-upscale hotels
Stripe pitch deck designed by Zlides
Want to create a pitch deck that inspires your audience? Get your FREE presentation kit designed by Zlides: http://bit.ly/slideshare_zlides
The 10 most interesting slides that helped our SaaS company raise 9 millionGoCanvas
Have you ever wondered what goes into a pitch deck? Or what slides matter? Here are the 10 slides that seemed to resonate most with VCs we met with our our journey to raising our latest $9 million in funding. Be sure to check the notes for explanations of each slide.
The document discusses a collaboration tool called Scrintal that aims to improve productivity for knowledge workers. It highlights how teams currently spend over 70% of their time on non-value adding tasks like searching for information across different apps. Scrintal provides a single visual workspace to help teams streamline their processes and work 10x faster. It has seen rapid growth through word-of-mouth referrals and aims to expand its product and reach over 1 billion knowledge workers.
Bliinx aggregates business interactions between professionals and their contacts so that they can get up to speed on relationships without jumping through a bunch of platforms. They also generate company-wide relationship insights that boost business development initiatives and customer ROI.
- Email was originally designed for individual use, not team collaboration, so the company built the first shared email client to enable features like canned responses, automated rules, reminders, and analytics.
- The shared email client now has 2300 companies as customers across many industries using it for functions like customer support, operations, and sales. Usage and revenue have grown consistently while churn has decreased.
- Moving forward, the company aims to continue improving their platform and adding more users to increase value, with goals of positive operating margins by end of 2019 and $xx in ARR by end of 2018. Their long term vision is to become an extensible platform beyond just messaging.
Imagine a culture where the input of the whole organization turns an individual idea into a user story in just a couple of hours, where everybody's goal is to make the customer’s job easier and more effective, and where you work on projects you love instead of projects you loathe. A great coding culture concentrates on making developers productive and happy by removing unnecessary overhead, bringing autonomous teams together, helping the individual programmer to innovate, and raising awareness among developers about how to create better code.
I will talk about how to establish and foster a strong engineering-focused culture that scales from a small team to a huge organization with hundreds of developers. I'll give lots of examples from our experience at Atlassian to show that once you're working in a great coding culture, you won't want to work anywhere else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAk04-_M-JM&feature=youtu.be
Have you ever felt trapped in a bad PowerPoint presentation? Ever listen to a speaker drone on like a zombie? Do boring uninspiring slides leave you feeling like the walking dead? Don’t be a PowerPoint zombie! Here are 6 tips to avoid Death by Powerpoint!
Last year, we presented the top, must-know, culturally relevant trends for 2015 and our predictions were 83% accurate!
To help the “curious class” stay relevant in 2016, we’ve assembled an A-Z glossary of what trends we predict to be 100 must-know terms and concepts of 2016.
We hope this cultural crib sheet will help prepare you for the year ahead!
In this webinar international bestselling author, Andrew Griffiths, talks with leading productivity authority, Sam Harrop, to share 101 simple but highly effective productivity hacks.
Nothing is off limits in this presentation - and if you want to see the video recording of the actual webinar - please visit www.andrewgriffithsblog.com.
Rand looks at Moz's 2015 analysis of ranking factors in Google's search engine and compares opinion data, correlation numbers, and experiments to give a picture of how modern SEO fits together.
Sass Code Reviews - How one code review changed my life #SassConf2015Stacy Kvernmo
After writing CSS for over 10 years you'd think you would know everything there is to know, right? I couldn't be more wrong and I found out the hard way. While my first formal code review session was painfully embarrassing it was also the most important lesson I have learned throughout my career. Code reviews force you to communicate on a different level which ultimately leads to more thoughtful coding practices. When writing Sass and other pre-processed languages it is even more important that you review your code continually, which even the more seasoned front end developers may neglect at times.
Bottom line: Code reviews will make you better.
Design has become a game changer in Silicon Valley. This #DesignInTech Report highlights the rising importance of design in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The report covers trends ranging from the record amounts of funding flowing into design-led startups to M&A activity with major tech corporations. Beyond designers and technologists, this report will appeal to a broad audience. For all of us who use a computer or mobile device, great design is changing how we live and work. This study helps explain why.
1) The venture capital outlook document discusses signs that private tech markets are overvalued due to an influx of new capital sources investing with less pricing discipline.
2) Late-stage valuations, median revenue multiples, and e-commerce multiples are much higher for private companies compared to historical levels and public market comparables.
3) Over 2/3 of mid-late stage deals now include non-VC investors like corporations, hedge funds, and mutual funds, and round sizes have increased with less consideration for price.
4) While some overpricing may occur, the document concludes that technology innovation will continue growing as a proportion of the economy, leading to returns for top venture capital firms.
This is First Round's effort to provide an in-depth snapshot of what founders across the entire tech ecosystem are thinking and doing, what they're excited about and worried about, and how they're seeing the market. We surveyed venture-backed founders from everywhere — less than 25% from the First Round community — and received over 500 responses, volunteering their experience and opinions.
SpringOwl's 99 Page Presentation On How To Best Turnaround Yahoo!Eric Jackson
On Dec. 13, 2015, SpringOwl shared the attached 99 page presentation which had been sent to the Yahoo board. In it, we argue for why change is needed from the status quo at Yahoo, why selling the core business now at the lows isn't attractive for long-term shareholders and our 9 point plan for turning around the company.
The document discusses trends in consumer tech and media from 2015-2020. It predicts that the industry will grow by over $500 billion in that time period, with the average American spending more time on tech and media than on work or sleep. It also notes that messaging platforms will surpass social networks as the dominant media activity and that the next big winners in streaming audio are already gaining popularity quietly.
Let's talk about the job of a product manager and how to do it really well. Based off of this post: https://medium.com/@joshelman/a-product-managers-job-63c09a43d0ec#.v0kdyf816
We spend more time working than doing anything else in life. Yet for too many people, the experience of work is demotivating and dehumanizing.
I don’t think it has to be this way, and I’m willing to bet you don’t either.
At Google, we’ve learned a ton about what makes for an enjoyable and productive workplace. We’re not alone – lots of other companies, ranging from grocers (e.g., Wegmans) to textile companies (e.g., the Brandix Group) to Brooklyn delis (e.g., Russ & Daughters), as well as academics and scientists, have learned the same simple truth: there are straightforward things we can do to make work better.
My new book, "Work Rules!", is an attempt to bring this together and offer you practical tools to improve work, no matter what you do. Check out this visual preview of the book and visit www.workrules.net if you’d like to pick up a copy or learn more!
Manpacks is a startup that provides monthly subscriptions for men's underwear. It aims to solve problems men have obtaining and maintaining their underwear supply. The founders have relevant experience in retail operations, web design and development. They are currently raising $500k on AngelList and 70% is already committed. The website and social media promote the company's limited time offers and discovery of new products to help men.
The document describes Launchrock, a startup that helps other startups and companies acquire users and understand them. Some key points:
- Launchrock has helped over 1,000,000 startups sign up users and 50,000 get in line for product launches. It has over 3,000 customers.
- It provides user management, marketing, social insights and relationship infrastructure tools to help companies acquire and understand users.
- The CEO is Jameson Detweiler and it has received funding from investors like 500 Startups and advisors from companies like Hubspot, KISSmetrics, and HootSuite.
- Launchrock has helped many companies launch successfully, including the Olsen Twins'
This document summarizes Mint, a personal finance management tool. It allows users to track spending, savings goals, and net worth. Mint makes money through referral fees when users switch financial products based on Mint's recommendations. The document outlines Mint's market size and opportunity, competitors, value proposition, user and partner acquisition strategies, business model, and projected financials. It expects rapid user and revenue growth as it acquires users through viral and partnership channels and converts them through intelligent suggestions.
The Rudder Group VC, Fund Raising & Pitch Deck OutlineThe Rudder Group
The document provides guidance on when and how much venture capital early-stage companies should raise. It recommends initially raising small amounts from friends and family, using that to build a product and pilot customers. It then suggests raising an angel/seed round and keeping costs low for the first year to prove scalability. It outlines when companies should consider venture capital versus other options. The document also provides tips on pitching VCs, including optimal fundraising seasons, pitch deck structure, and services The Rudder Group can provide to help companies raise capital.
The document provides guidance on when and how much venture capital early-stage companies should raise. It recommends initially raising small amounts from friends and family, using that to build a product and pilot customers. It then suggests raising an angel/seed round and keeping costs low for the first year to prove scalability. It outlines when companies should consider venture capital versus other options. The document also provides tips on pitching VCs, including optimal fundraising seasons, pitch deck structure, and services The Rudder Group can provide to help companies raise capital.
The document summarizes different sources of capital available to entrepreneurs at different stages of their company. It discusses equity funding sources like angels, angel groups, and venture capitalists. It provides guidance on determining how much funding is needed based on a company's growth profile and strategies for selecting investors. Key steps in engaging with angels and VCs are outlined, including preparing a pitch, soliciting feedback, and responding to feedback to improve chances of securing funding.
The document discusses various sources of capital available for entrepreneurs, including angels, venture capital firms, and state/federal programs. It provides information on different funding stages and amounts, the attributes of companies that are more likely to receive funding, and tips for engaging with investors. Various financing options are outlined, including equity, debt, venture debt, and working capital loans. Factors that lenders examine are also summarized.
MassChallenge 2011 Bootcamp Day 5: FinanceBrendan O'Neil
The document discusses various sources of capital available for entrepreneurs, including angels, venture capital firms, and state programs. It provides information on different funding stages and amounts, the attributes of companies that are more likely to receive funding, and tips for engaging with investors. Various financing options are outlined, including equity, debt, venture debt, and working capital loans. Factors that lenders examine are also summarized.
This document provides tips for entrepreneurs approaching venture capital (VC) firms for funding. It discusses understanding the VC business model, what makes an attractive investment opportunity, how to match your company's stage and profile to the right investors, pitching effectively, and navigating the matching process. The key points are that VCs seek huge financial returns, only invest in the top 1% of opportunities, look for large total addressable markets, proven teams, and high-growth potential. It emphasizes networking, choosing the right partner over firm, and being prepared to commit fully once funding is secured.
The document discusses several questions related to fundraising for startups. It provides advice on determining startup valuations, how much money to raise, interacting with venture capitalists, and other fundraising topics. The key recommendations are to raise enough money to reach the next major milestone, negotiate valuations but don't obsess over small differences, and accept reasonable offers to avoid running out of cash. Investors primarily want founders focused on building successful companies, not valuation details.
This document provides an overview of venture capital and how founders can understand it and raise funds. It discusses the different sources of startup funding and how venture capital works, with the goal of large returns through a few high-growth companies. Founders need to understand that venture capital firms expect outsized returns requiring rapid scaling and large addressable markets. The document outlines the process of planning, researching firms, structuring the fundraise, pitching to investors, and negotiating deals to raise venture capital successfully.
Presentation based on Ben Holmes, Index Ventures Ventures http://www.slideshare.net/benholmes/venture-capital-an-entrepreneurs-manual
Created for EnterpriseTO
The 13 Most Costly Mistakes C-level Executives Make Raising Capital (2)Cang Vincent Quach
The document discusses 13 common mistakes that C-level executives make when raising capital from investors. Some of the key mistakes highlighted include: having an incomplete or inadequate business plan; providing unclear or unrealistic milestones for how the capital will be used; and asking for too little or too much money from investors without properly justifying the requested amount. The document advises executives to thoroughly research and prepare their business plan, financial projections, and funding request to avoid these costly errors and improve their chances of a successful capital raise.
a presentation I made at Jacksonville State University's "The Alabama Conference for Inventors"... some content blatantly lifted from other great presentations
Startup MBA 3.1 - Funding, equity, valuationsFounder-Centric
This document discusses different types of startup funding including revenue, debt, and equity. It focuses mainly on equity funding, explaining the typical stages of funding from sweat equity to a Series A round. It provides advice on valuation ranges, giving up equity to investors and employees, and practical considerations for fundraising like timelines, dilution calculations, and negotiating terms. The key points are that equity funding involves giving ownership stakes to investors in exchange for cash, fundraising is distracting, and founders should understand valuation impacts and protect themselves in legal agreements.
10 decisions that will radically improve your startups chance of successCo-founder Ignitor
A slide deck of 10 decisions that will radically improve a startups chance of success. As well as an introduction to a weekend seminar to help entrepreneurs kick-start their businesses. For more visit: www.startupcherry.com
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DocSend Fundraising Research: What we Learned from 200 Startups Who Raised $360M
1. Why do some startups get
funded? What makes for the
best pitch? How does the
process work?
DocSend recently teamed up with Professor
Tom Eisenmann from Harvard Business School.
Together, we conducted research that gave
us the answers to those questions. We studied
the fundraising of 200 startup companies as
they went through their Series Seed and Series
A rounds. Altogether, these companies raised
more than $360 million.
from
$360M
Who Raised
200 Startups
What We Learned
$360M RAISED200 COMPANIES
$
2. DocSend is a sales enablement tool
that tracks per-page analytics on
document usage and is a popular
way for founders to send pitch decks
to investors. This put us in a unique
position to conduct this study.
All of the companies that we chose
through our selection process opted
into the research. In addition to
sending their decks to investors using
DocSend, they answered a detailed
questionnaire on what the overall
fundraising process was like. Some
of the companies that participated
include August Locks, Panjo, Shift
Cars, Back to the Roots, Wiser, Tiggly,
20twenty, Boomtrain, and mNectar.
2
3. Here are some of our main findings:
Stats From an Average Series Seed Raise
Starting a company is a brutal process. Getting outside funding is a necessary step for many tech
startups, but it’s an opaque and frustrating process for those doing it for the first time. With that in mind,
we wanted to shed some light on what a typical successful seed round looks like.
DeckFundraising Process
58Investors
Contacted
40Investor
Meetings
$1.3MCapital
Raised
12.5Weeks
to Close
19.2Page Avg
Deck Length
03:44Minute Avg
Visit Time
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$1.3M
0
3
4. 20 1
2
3
4
5
20-30
7
6
Seven Actionable Takeaways
If you’re thinking of raising a seed round for your
startup, here are seven take aways from hundreds
of companies who successfully raised.
Keep your deck to 20 pages or
fewer. Each visit will only be 3m
44sec on average.
More meetings does not equal
more money. Focus on getting
quality introductions to investors
who are likely to be a fit. Quality
over quantity.
You’ll likely need to contact 20-30
investors. But you won’t need to
contact hundreds.
Don’t list your deal terms in your
deck. Deliver them in person.
The terms can vary by investor.
Spend time on your deck.
Specifically, make sure your
team slide looks awesome. If you
include a financial slide, which is
optional, remember it’ll be your
most viewed.
Raising seed funding will take
longer than you think. Don’t start
to despair until you’ve been at it
for a few months.
Try to raise from a seed firm
before you go to angels. Firms
will give you more money in
less time with fewer meetings.
4
5. What to expect and how to manage the
fundraising process
Series A, the next step
The optimal pitch deck
11-15
16-17
6-10
Slides
Table of Contents
5
6. Designing a Successful Seed Deck
The average length of the seed decks we studied was roughly 19 pages, and most had a similar format.
The following table shows the types of pages used in the average order by the frequency in which
they occurred. This table also notes the average length for each section of the deck, if that figure was
included. We categorized pages according to Sequoia Capital’s list of recommended categories.
Company
Purpose
73%
Category
% decks
including
Smart
Key
If included,
# of pages
Product
96%
Problem
88%
Team
100%
Solution
69%
Business
Model
81%
Why Now
46%
Competition
65%
Market
Size
73%
Financials
58%
1.8 2 1.2 1.7 1.4
5 1.2 3.4 1.4 2.3
6
7. The ordering for DocSend and Sequoia differed only in a few places:
SEQUOIA
RECOMMENDED ORDER
OBSERVED ORDER
Company
Purpose
Problem Solution Why Now Market Size
Product Team Business
Model
Competition Financials
6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5
Company
Purpose
Problem Solution Why Now Market Size
Competition Product Business
Model
Team Financials
6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5
Recommended Deck Ordering
The ordering of the sections was fairly standard, except for the team page. This page appeared either
at the beginning or the end, but never in the middle. Within the 200 companies we studied, more
companies placed the page at the end and not the beginning. This practice is in line with advice from
Reid Hoffman, who advises companies to lead with their investment thesis, not a team page.
7
8. Mobile
Views
100%
0
12%
investors
of
Viewers studied the average successful
deck for 3 minutes, 44 seconds. This time
might not sound like much, but the length
was more than we expected. Compare that
time to DocSend’s own pitch deck, viewed
on average for a little more than two
minutes. Twelve percent of investors read
the pitch decks from their mobile phones
as well, so make sure your deck looks OK
on a tiny screen.
The Average Pitch Deck View
8
9. Which Pages Matter the Most
A few questions arise: Where was this view time spent within the pitch? If you spend extra time fixing up
your deck, which pages should you focus on? Where should you anticipate questions? The following
table shows the average time spent per page in each category.
Interestingly, although the financial category takes the place, only 57 percent of successful decks
have this section. The low rate of inclusion is mostly due to the fact that many seed stage firms do not
yet have financial results on projections. Almost all of the seed decks, and many of the A decks, don’t
contain any significant financials to discuss.
If you include financials, be very thoughtful with the content, as viewers will spend the most time on this
section. Ensure your team slide, whether at the end or the beginning, also looks amazing.
One thing that’s important to note is that almost no decks listed the amount they were raising and the
terms of their fundraise. This information is always better delivered in person, and can vary from investor
to investor.
0 5s 10s 15s 20s 25s
Solution
Problem
Market Size
Product
Business Model
Company Purpose
Why Now
Competition
Team
Financials
10.6
11.3
13.3
13.9
14.9
15.3
16.3
16.6
22.8
23.2
Categories Time / Page View in Seconds
9
10. Example Pitch Decks
Some of the companies in our data set agreed to share their decks publicly. If you’d like to see some
pitch decks to get ideas to create your own, these samples are great.
Boomtrain Panjo Shift Cars Yoga Trail
Smart Host Sunshine Dineserve DocSend
10
11. Surviving the Fundraising Process
A Matter of Time
How long does a typical seed round take to raise? Within DocSend’s data set, on average, the round
took 12 1/2 weeks. However, we saw much variation around this average. One-fifth of the companies
took 20 weeks or longer, and another one-fifth took six weeks or fewer. The longest successful round
took 40 weeks to close.
Companies that failed to successfully raise funds gave up after an average of 6.7 weeks. These
companies may have failed simply for lack of patience: the companies that had successful rounds
reported that the process took longer than expected. We asked the research participants to rate the
actual length of their fundraising round against their expectations. On a scale of one to five, where three
was “as expected” and five was “waaaaay longer,” the average response for seed rounds was 3.6.
Certainly, while patience is beneficial for startups, knowing when to give up, take a step back, and
take a fresh look at the situation is important. Three-fourths of the companies that failed to raise
seed funding planned to try again, and the average time until they plan to restart their efforts is 8.9
weeks—plenty of time to make progress on their business and incorporate feedback.
0 - 5
15% 6 - 10
26% 11 - 15
42% 16 and up
17%Seed Round in Weeks
11
12. Strive for Quality, Not Quantity, of Investors
It’s tempting to think that the more investors
you contact, the better your chances of raising
money. Unfortunately, this situation isn’t the
case. Certainly, the more investors you contact,
the more meetings you’ll get, up to a point.
Note: in the data reported here, an entrepreneur
could have multiple meetings with one investor,
making it possible to have more meetings than
investors contacted.
Contacting more investors will get you more
meetings, but it won’t necessarily get you more
money. Focus on the quality of your connection
to the investors you contact. In this graph, we
compare the number of investors contacted
and the amount of funding raised. There
isn’t much correlation, and if anything, the
impression is a bit negative.
Investors contacted vs meetings
Investors contacted
Investormeetings
0
0
50
200
150
100
100 200 300
Contacted vs money
Moneyoffered
Investors contacted
0
0
1.5M
6M
4.5M
3M
100 200 300
Contacting more investors will get you
more meetings, up to a point.
Contacting more investors won't help
raise more money.
12
13. How Much and From Whom to Raise
Earlier, we noted the average seed round in DocSend’s data set was $1.3 million. The amount and
the process, however, varied widely depending on whether the entrepreneur raised from angels or
a seed firm.
Angel investors are wealthy individuals who give their own money to a project; they typically give
between $25,000 and $100,000. Seed firms are small venture capital funds that pursue investments
on a full-time basis. These firms usually invest between $250,000 and $1 million in a project.
Angels
Seed firms
0
$25,000
$100,000
$250,000 $1,000,000
What to Do and When to Give Up
Create a list of 30 investors you feel would be particularly passionate about your pitch. Most of the
startups in our data set had to contact only 20 to 30 investors to close their round.
If none of them agree to invest, something may be off about what or how you’re pitching. Take their
feedback seriously and make some changes to your pitch before contacting more investors. If you still
haven’t closed investors after contacting 100 of them, you should seriously rethink either your timing in
the market or the project. A few companies raise money after contacting more than 100 investors, but
that scenario is rare and a big drain on your time.
13
14. The following are a few of the key trade-offs:
Angels are typically operators,
so they can relate and have a
personal interest in your
project. Because you'll have a
few angels in your round, you'll
have a sizable support group
behind you.
Seed FirmsAngels
These firms have professional,
savvy investors. The firms
invest more, so they have a
greater financial interest in
seeing you succeed. Firms also
have more money to give you
later if you need it.
Pros
Angels have busy lives and
fluctuating funds, so you may
not always be able to rely on
them for the money and
support you need. You also
need to sell to more of them for
a round.
Firms may try to control your
business decisions, and they
aren't always qualified to give
you the best advice. Firms also
see a lot of deals, so it's hard to
get their attention.
Cons
Angels vs Seed Firms
14
15. The following summarizes the differences:
Firm Rounds: Rarer but Better
In general, angel-led seed rounds are much more common than firm-led seed rounds. According to
David S. Rose, an angel investor, seed firms fund about 1,500 startups each year while angels fund
roughly 50,000. This discrepancy is partially because seed firms invest in about one of every 400
companies they consider, while angels choose one out of every 40. Those numbers are by no means
exact, but they do illustrate that if you wish to get a firm’s attention, you need to have an outstanding
pitch deck and know the selling points of your business inside and out.
According to DocSend’s data, although angel-led seed rounds are more common, firm-led rounds have
much more favorable characteristics. If you are able to raise funds from a firm, you’ll get twice as much
money in 30 percent less time. You’ll also need to contact only 40 percent as many investors.
Our recommendation is to try raising from a Seed Fund first.
Firm Angel
9.6
29
27
13.5
68
45
Firm
Firm
Angel
Angel
$1,995,952
36.8%
$989,118
18.9%
Avg time to fundraise (weeks)
Avg investors contacted
Avg investor meetings
Avg money raised
% oversubscribed
$per contact
0 $100k
$91,830
$17,210
15
16. Series A vs Series Seed Rounds
Series A rounds are much less common than seed rounds. In DocSend’s data set, nine seed rounds
existed for every series A round. It appears that the Series A Crunch is still in effect. Although we have
fewer data points, we managed to collect some statistics on the differences between seed and A rounds.
If you are able to raise a Series A round, the process is easier than for a seed round. A rounds take less
time, yield more money, and require fewer investors than seed rounds.
Series A rounds
took an average
of 9.6 weeks, 24
percent less time
than the time given
for the average
seed round.
During A rounds,
companies contacted
an average of 26
investors, versus 58
investors contacted
for seed rounds.
During A rounds,
companies had on
average 30 investor
meetings, versus 40
investor meetings for
seed rounds.
The average money
raised during seed
rounds was just
under $1.3 million,
where the money
raised during A
rounds was more
than $8 million.
Here are some of the key facts we gathered:
9.6weeks
26investors
30investor meetings
$1.3million
16
17. Easiest Markets for Seed Funding
Consumers’ needs and other
economic conditions impact which
business models receive the
greatest success during fundraising.
While trends are always fluctuating,
in the past 12 months, four types of
companies stood out as having the
most success during seed rounds:
consumer, business, marketplace,
and hardware.
On average, marketplace
companies raised the most money
in their seed rounds. Successful
marketplace businesses are quite
rare, but when they work, they’re
also much bigger, like Uber or
Airbnb. Raising money for a
marketplace startup takes a long
time. Although there’s a lot of money
for companies in these categories,
convincing investors that your
startup is going to win takes longer.
The following are some of the key statistics on the fundraising
efforts of the four types of business models:
Consumer
32%
Business
32%
Marketplace
22%
Hardware
14%
avg $ raised
% deals
$1,330,000$1,738,750$1,245,435$945,870
$2M
17
18. 20 1
2
3
4
5
20-30
7
6
To Recap, Seven Key Takeaways
Fundraising for your startup can be an opaque and
frustrating process when the future of your business
is on the line. Keep these take aways in mind to
maximize your chances of successfully raising a
seed round.
Keep your deck to 20 pages or
fewer. Each visit will only be 3m
44sec on average.
More meetings does not equal
more money. Focus on getting
quality introductions to investors
who are likely to be a fit. Quality
over quantity.
You’ll likely need to contact 20-30
investors. But you won’t need to
contact hundreds.
Spend time on your deck.
Specifically, make sure your
team slide looks awesome. If you
include a financial slide, which is
optional, remember it’ll be your
most viewed.
Raising seed funding will take
longer than you think. Don’t start
to despair until you’ve been at it
for a few months.
Try to raise from a seed firm
before you go to angels. Firms
will give you more money in
less time with fewer meetings.
Don’t list your deal terms in your
deck. Deliver them in person.
The terms can vary by investor.
18
19. Wondering what happens
after you raise a seed
round of funding?
See what DocSend did on our blog
Want to see who reads your
pitch deck and where they
spend time?
Sign up for a free DocSend account