Investor Connect Podcast

Signs of a Bad Startup Idea Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In reviewing startup ideas for your business here is a list of signs pointing to bad ideas: You know absolutely nothing about the market, product, or community. While great startups come out of new domains, it's helpful to have some experience with the sp...

Screening Startup Ideas Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In reviewing startup ideas here is a list to screen them: Are you excited about the idea or just okay with it? You should have some sense of excitement about it. Does anyone else think it's a good idea? It helps to have some validation from others, especially...

Testing Your Ideas at Low Cost Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It's important to validate your startup ideas. Here's a list of low-cost methods to do so: Search the web for competitive solutions. Look at how they are positioned in the market relative to your idea. Do any of those solutions have recurring revenue?...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Adam Spector, Co-founder, and COO of AbstractOps. Located in San Francisco, CA, AbstractOps automates all the key aspects of running a startup. This includes covering the Human Resources (HR) function, documents & contracts, financial (such as payments, taxes, and accounting), and compliance/regulatory. AbstractOps combines everything into a singl...

The Acid Test of Startup Ideation Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It's easy to generate startup ideas. It takes work to research and validate them. Once you qualify an idea apply the acid test to it. The acid test is can you set up a repeatable process for generating revenue with it. Create a low-cost, simple vers...

Identify Your Startup Idea Advantages Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In validating your startup idea look for these advantages: Does your idea resonate with the potential buyer? Your buyers should be excited about it when you tell them. Is your idea perceived to be better than the competition? Buyers should see t...

Start With the Problem Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Good startup ideas don't come by looking for startup ideas. They come when you find yourself saying "that's interesting" as you notice someone trying to solve a problem. To generate ideas for a startup, start with the problem to be solved. Choose a problem you...

Where to Focus Your Startup Ideas Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In searching for startup ideas here are some key points to consider: Start with a current solution to the problem you want to solve. Don't change everything but instead only change one or a few things. Focus on one or two innovations such as the bus...

Questions to Test Your Startup Ideas Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. After startup ideation comes to the testing phase. It's important to test your startup idea with these questions: How many people need your solution? Is that enough people to make the business work? Consider how many customers you need at your ch...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Judah Taub, Managing Partner at Hetz Ventures. Hetz Ventures was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv with additional partners operating out of London. Hetz Ventures is a leading Israeli seed-stage venture capital firm taking a thematic approach to early-stage investing. With nearly $300M under management, the fund invests in and suppo...

Tracking Your Startup Ideation Progress Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It's important to track your progress in startup ideation. Metrics should be used from the very beginning to measure your progress. Here are some steps to take: Track the number of customers contacted and provided feedback. Measure the number...

Signs of a Great Startup Idea Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In reviewing startup ideas for your business here is a list of signs pointing to good ones: Growth -- there's a growing market around it. Broad-based -- a lot of people have the problem you are trying to solve. Urgent -- people need to solve the problem...

The False Pretenders Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Emerging technology markets bring several challenges to the investor. These markets are new and cutting edge but are also immature, unevenly distributed, and opaque. In the early days, it's not clear what the real winner will look like. In many emerging markets,...

Portfolio Tracking Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In running a VC fund, you'll need to set up a system for portfolio management. You'll need to provide quarterly and annual reports to the Limited Partners, so it's important to set up a system for tracking the investments. Select a portfolio management tool that g...

This is the TEN Capital AMA show. I'm Hall T. Martin, the host of the show in which we interview investors and founders on current topics. Our guest is: Yohan Jacob of Retailbound I hope you enjoy this episode. _______________________________________________________ Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ F...

How to Find Startup Ideas Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are several ways to find startup ideas. Here are three methods to consider for your ideation efforts: Look to the future and ask yourself the following questions: How are people changing? What long-term problems do they have to deal with? How have val...

Impact Investing Metrics Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Many VC funds have impact investing as a part of the investment thesis. Impact investing takes into account the social impact of the fund in addition to the financial return. For impact investing, include metrics showing the impact of each investment. There...

How Startup Ideation Works Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startup ideation is a key step to building a successful company. Here are the key steps to generate good startup ideas: Surround yourself with people who have a feel for the trends and what's coming next. Look for disruptive innovations in technology. Foll...

Key Performance Metrics Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In running a fund, you'll need to track key performance metrics. Metrics should cover performance at all levels, including individual investments, the overall fund, and how it compares to other VC funds. Investors will want to see the numbers at all levels, i...

Cost of Running a Fund Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In running a VC fund, there will be costs to cover. Here's a list of key costs to include in your pro forma: Salaries for the partners and other employees. Benefits for the partners and employees. Office rent and related expenses such as utilities. Legal and a...

Investment Returns on a VC Fund Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a VC fund, limited partners look for greater returns. The risks are higher, and the hold times are much longer, so LPs look for better returns than the stock market. In general, they look for a 10-20% IRR better than the market index. Historically,...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Luigi Amati, Chairman at META. META is an international advisory and investment firm dedicated to the creation of knowledge-intensive companies. The group's main activities are research results exploitation, support for startup creation and scale-up, and early-stage equity investment. Through dedicated and independent business units (academy, inve...

Compensation Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In setting up a VC fund, you'll need to determine compensation for the partners and team members. Most funds use the 2% management fee with a 20% carry model. This means 2% of the funds raised will be used for salaries, along with 20% of any of the profits. In a $100M f...

How Many Partners? Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In setting up a VC fund, it's important to select the right number of general partners for the fund. Most funds have at least two partners to provide the necessary skills. Some funds have one founding partner and then several venture partners to help. Funds under...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Guy Remond, Co-founder and Partner at EHE Capital. Headquartered in Altrincham, England, EHE Capital Limited is a highly efficient tech-led private equity organisation with a genuine focus on supporting entrepreneurs through their companies' high growth stage through to a successful conclusion. They also provide qualified, high-quality deal flow f...