Investor Connect Podcast

In this episode, Hall welcomes back Maggie Sprenger, Managing Director at Green Cow Venture Capital (GCVC). GCVC is an early-stage venture fund based in San Francisco and New York City. They invest at the Seed and Series A stages into dynamic founders that combine unparalleled drive, talent, and diverse perspectives to solve problems around scarcity and inefficiency in global markets. They like co...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. So, how do investors decide to commit to a startup investment? Entrepreneurs look at the opportunity in the deal. Investors look at the risk. There are two factors that help the investor decide to invest or not. The first is the worst-case scenario approach. They ask, "What is the w...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. At each stage of funding, investors bring not only funding, but also some level of support. From crowdfunding you receive not only the investment (or prepayment, if you are running a rewards campaign), but you are also lining up customers. From angel investors you receive customer i...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Dougal Cameron, Director of Golden Section Ventures (GSV). GSV is a seed-stage venture investment group focusing on B2B SaaS companies that are posted revenue and post product, but still early in the revenue cycle. Dougal is an experienced founder and CEO with a demonstrated history of working in the software, manufacturing, and energy industry. He is skilled in busi...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, start with your own network. Set up calls with angels, family offices, and others who you already know. Since the relationship is already built, it's much easier to set up the meeting. These investors can give feedback on how to improve the business and the pitch...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are many sources of capital. There are family and friend loans. There are bank loans. There are revenue share loans. There are equity investments in the form of convertible notes and equity ownership. There are various combinations of the above. The key is to figure out the en...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the Coronavirus lockdown, we're seeing trends that will establish the next cycle of startup innovation. We'll see the government shift to building out the infrastructure and response programs for healthcare and public safety initiatives, such as building up stockpiles of medical...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jak Knowles, Vice President Venture Investments and Head of Pharma at Leaps by Bayer. Leaps by Bayer was "created in 2015 to break boundaries in life sciences investment—in scale, risk, collaboration, and mission." Since 2015, Leaps by Bayer has invested over $800M in ventures that tackle fundamental breakthroughs and shift core paradigms in their industries. Jak beg...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Lydia Kinkade, Managing Director at iiM (Innovation in Motion) located in Merriam, Kansas. iiM is an angel investment group that invests in high-growth, early-stage animal health, human health and agribusiness companies. They provide capital, seasoned business expertise and access to their network of industry experts. Prior to becoming an early-stage investor, Lydia...

In this episode, Hall welcomes William Bissett, President and Founder of Portus Wealth Advisors and podcast host at Charlotte Angel Connection. Portus Wealth Advisors is a Private Wealth Management firm based in Charlotte, NC and serves clients across the country. William began his career in insurance sales, then moved on to a job at a wealth-management firm. After a number of years, he then moved...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In developing the pitch deck, there are several mistakes I often see. One of the most common is trying to explain in great detail how the product or technology works. Instead, focus on the benefits of the product and what it does for customers. Save the detailed explanations for lat...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the Coronavirus lockdown we're seeing trends that will establish the next cycle of startup innovation. While already underway, there's an accelerating shift to digital. Startups in this area will find investor interest if they can provide the following: Online businesses where yo...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In evaluating a team, there are elements to look for in a CEO for early-stage companies. The first is character. The CEO must have integrity and demonstrate character. Over time, the company will adopt the character of the CEO. If the CEO cuts corners, so will the rest of the compan...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the Coronavirus lockdown we're seeing trends that will establish the next cycle of startup innovation. While physical events for esports have been cancelled and future events may be postponed, in general, esports continue with online activity. Online competitive gaming will conti...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the Coronavirus lockdown we're seeing trends that will establish the next cycle of startup innovation. While physical events for esports have been cancelled and future events may be postponed, in general, esports continue with online activity. Online competitive gaming will conti...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Yaniv Sneor, founder of Mid Atlantic Bio Angels (MABA). MABA is a life-science angel group focused on therapeutics, devices and diagnostics. Yaniv started a career in physics and moved to working as a consultant with companies in the life-sciences sector. He noticed that these smaller, early-stage life-science companies were having difficulty raising money, so he dec...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the twelfth slide is the Investment Opportunity slide. This slide shows the fundraise target and how much is raised so far. Include interest and committed investors as well as invested funds to date. Show key terms of the deal. For convertible notes, show interes...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the eleventh slide is the Financial slide. The Financial slide gives the current status of the company with respect to revenue, expenses and profit. You want to convey highlights such as growth rate, scale of revenue, and break-even expectations. Show one or two...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the ninth slide is the team slide. Show the C-level team include CEO, CTO and CSO. Include a picture of each team member with their name and title. Show the names of companies and projects they have worked on that are relevant to your target industry. Detailed re...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the seventh slide is the Competition slide. The Competition slide often helps highlight the market size and strength by showing who else is playing in that space. In your slide, highlight three to four competitors. Use a table format to compare your solution to t...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the third slide is the Solution slide. For your solution, show a picture of the core product or technology so the investor gets a sense of it. Describe how you came up with it and why it's a great solution. Leave out ancillary products and other revenue streams a...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". In startup investing, "Team isn't everything, it's the only thing". All problems will ultimately be solved by the team. If the team can't solve it, then the business will fail. In many years of angel investin...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck, the eighth slide is the Competitive Advantage slide. First highlight your core value proposition for the customer. Show what value the customer receives from your product/service. A competitive advantage gives you a 30% increase in revenue or decrease in cost. Sh...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In your pitch deck the second slide is the problem slide. It's important to start the pitch with the problem you are solving so the investor has a frame of reference for your startup. Show how this is an important problem and must be solved, versus a nice-to-have solution. It must b...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The goal of the pitch deck is to introduce your deal to an investor and find out what is essential to that investor. The goal is not to tell your full story or explain how your product works. From this pitch, you want a follow-up meeting with the investor. Good pitch decks show what...