Blog
What Does AI Mean for Startups: Both Opportunity and Threat
Artificial intelligence represents a broad spectrum of opportunities and threats to startups.
A New Course on Writing the Best Pitch Deck
Over the past 40 years, I’ve helped hundreds of high-tech and biotech startup companies get funded. Based on that experience, I’ve developed an eleven-class video course on writing the best pitch deck to help startups secure funding. The course is called “Everything You Need to Know to Write the Best Pitch Deck for Your Startup Company.” Writing the Best Pitch Deck Puts You Ahead of the...
The Current Funding Climate Explained
In a recent Marketplace.org article titled, "Startups are hoping for a turnaround in funding", they discussed whether the current funding climate will have a turnaround. I believe they have it about right in stating that prospects for a turnaround are mixed, but they missed a few factors relating to how funding flows. The Current Funding Climate is Due to Complex Factors According to the...
Your Startup’s Board of Directors: Corporate Governance Matters
Some startups have a difficult time getting their mind around the topic of corporate governance. I think many startup CEOs believe it's all common sense. They assume everything will be fine if they simply 'do the right thing'. Though doing the right thing probably works for many situations, subtle pitfalls can destroy a company. When your startup's board of directors isn't properly composed...
My Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence
Although I have made good use of Artificial Intelligence on a few projects, I don’t consider myself an expert on AI in its present forms. However, I've been familiar with the basic concepts of AI since the late 1960s when I was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. I wrote my PhD thesis on one of the first Artificial Intelligence programming languages, “Information Processing...
Building a High-Performing Startup Team: Your Ultimate Guide
Often, startups follow the path of least resistance when creating their management team rather than focusing on building a high-performing startup team. Of course, it’s human nature to lean toward the known quantity—the guy next door, an office mate, a lab partner, or a former colleague. But these people are not necessarily the best fit for your startup. In my experience, the most...
What it Takes to Duplicate Silicon Valley’s Success
In a recent article in the L.A. Times titled, “Why Silicon Beach didn’t live up to the hype as an L.A. tech powerhouse", the authors listed reasons why the community failed to duplicate Silicon Valley's success. However, I noticed that of the factors listed, they left out something very important. The authors blame a significant decreases in the level of venture capital activity in both the Los...
Why VCs Want Experienced CEOs: The Leadership Factor
Why do venture capitalists focus so much on the management of startup companies? Why do VCs want experienced CEOs over great ideas and marketability, even? It’s the leadership factor. I recently wrote a blog touching on the topic of how choosing the wrong CEO can lead to a funding roadblock. I’m going to give some examples from my own investment experience that illustrate why VCs want...
Startups Need an Effective Competitive Strategy
Does your startup have a competitive advantage? Does your strategy call for particular actions to achieve a specific position in your marketplace? To understand what this means and how you can develop what investors consider a competitive advantage, you need an effective competitive strategy. Why a Competitive Advantage Matters to Investors The underlying premise of almost all high technology...
The Greatest Roadblock to Startup Funding: What Investors Won’t Tell You
In my fifty years of experience working with hundreds of startups, I can safely say there’s one roadblock to startup funding that outweighs all others—and most companies will never know the real reason they did not get funded. So, what is this roadblock, and why is it such a secret? Inexperienced Leadership is a Roadblock to Startup Funding Most venture capitalists have worked with...
