Investor Connect Podcast

In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin welcomes Mike Sloan, the founder and CEO of Simple Labs. Mike introduces the audience to Cogni, a ground-breaking device designed to address some of the major challenges in the wine and spirits industry, such as product loss due to evaporation and spoilage. With real-time monitoring, Cogni provides distilleries and wineries valuable insights, all...

How To Monitor Your Sales Forecast Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Forecasting revenue is an important skill because investors want visibility into it. To forecast better, use the Trailing Four Months model. In this model, calculate the growth rate by taking the average of the growth rate over the last four months...

Mistakes in Scaling the Startup Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The seed stage grows the business from 0 to $1M. The growth stage grows from $1M to $10M. The scaling stage grows from $10M to $100M. Here are the most common mistakes founders make at the scaling stage: They stop working on sales to focus on other ar...

Investors Look for Execution, Not Ideas Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startup founders often believe their idea will carry the day with the investor. They propose their idea to spark interest. While that may be a good way to get attention, it will certainly not maintain it for long. Investors look for execution,...

Lessons From Napoleon for the Startup Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Napoleon never ran a startup, but his life provides many lessons for the startup founder. Here are some lessons to take away from his life: Underestimating risk -- Napoleon underestimated the harshness of the Russian winter and suffered great lo...

Product Strategy for AI Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Artificial intelligence is a disruptive technology that promises tremendous benefits to the tech industry. Current products will be upgraded to use AI. New products will be introduced using AI from the get-go. Here's a list of product strategies for AI: AI-ba...

In this episode of Investor Connect, we welcome Kat Delgadillo and Hall Martin from Ten Capital to discuss their innovative platform connecting startups and investors. Kat and Hall introduce Ten Capital's mission to streamline the investment process, spotlighting their robust event lineup that includes the Family Office Roundtable, Virtual Quick Pitch, and Life Science Syndicate. Ten Capital aids...

Learning From Mistakes Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A CEO once said, I don't mind people making mistakes. I mind people not learning from them. It's important to learn from mistakes. There are several ways to do this. Learn from your own mistakes. Writing down the mistakes and what you learned helps reinforce y...

Stages of Technology Adoption Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Technology adoption goes through several stages over the life of that technology. Here are the steps of adoption: Unknown -- no one knows the technology. Awareness -- some hear about it but don't know what it is. Understanding -- those who know it under...

Acid Test for Startup Valuation Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Valuation is a key negotiating factor in startup investing. There are many valuation models available. The most common is the use of comps or comparables to see if the valuation is at market rate. Consider using the acid test for startup valuation. Th...

Innovation Looks Trivial in the Early Days Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the early days of a startup, innovation can look trivial. Innovation is often applied to the lower end of the market. New technologies often start as simple devices or applications. These devices have minimal functionality and lack robus...

Hiring a Professional CEO Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startup founders take the CEO position because they bring the vision and passion to launch the company. They know the domain and are building the core product and go-to-market strategy. They are the ultimate authority at the company. As the company grows an...

How Startups Can Make Better Forecasts Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Forecasting is a key skill founders need for raising funding. Investors want to know the founders' expectations for the business with the funds raised. Here are some key steps to make better forecasts: Start with a baseline. If the startup has...

How To Build an Elevator Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The elevator pitch is the short form of your startup pitch. It introduces the deal to an investor and gives the key highlights. The goal is not to tell them everything but rather to intrigue them to learn more about it. Here's how to build an elevator...

The Nuances of Pitching Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In pitching investors, there are key nuances that can make or break the pitch. Here is a list of nuances to consider when pitching: Use the pitch to build a collaboration. Funding is a part of it, but not the only thing. Start your pitch with your core value...

Key Skills for a Startup Founder To Have Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Successful startup founders share several key skills. Here are the key skills for a startup founder to have: They have access to the networks that are vital to their startup success. This includes investor networks for funding and customer ne...

Launching a Startup in a New Domain Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Markets shift and change, creating new startup opportunities. Founders seek new markets in which to launch a startup. For those launching a startup in a new domain, here are some key steps: Read several books describing the domain and how it works...

Revenue Solves All Problems Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In a startup, revenue solves all problems. Funding can help, but only for so long. As long as you have cash, you can run the startup. When you run out of money, then it's over. Revenue can fix any problem. If you need more sales support, you can hire them...

Signs of a Good Founder Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Anyone can be a founder of a startup. Here are signs of a good one: They have an innovative mindset. They look for how to innovate on the product, the business model, and more. They are self-aware. They know their strengths and weaknesses. They have a vision...

How To Find a Cofounder Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A founding team includes someone who is building it and someone who is selling it. It's important that the startup has two founders. Here are some steps to find a cofounder for your startup. Figure out which role the founder is taking and look for a cofounder...

Key Attributes of a Good Angel Investor Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Anyone with an accredited investor status can become an angel investor. Here's a list of key attributes of a good one: They know their industry well and how to invest in it. They know people and can size up a founder to determine if they are a...

How To Calculate Warrant Coverage Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A warrant is the right to buy a company's stock at a specific price or range over a certain time period. The warrant acts like an option, but it issues stock, which dilutes the cap table. Founders raising funding offer warrants to incentivize invest...

In this episode of Investor Connect, host Hall Martin welcomes Darcy Bachert, Founder and CEO of Prolucid Technologies. Darcy shares the journey of Prolucid Technologies, a software engineering firm that specializes in designing and developing mission-critical systems for highly regulated industries such as med tech, nuclear, and industrial applications. Darcy explains how the company pivoted from...

The Downside of VC Funding Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Venture capital can enable a startup to reach the next level through funding. There are downsides to VC funding. Here's a list: The founders' ownership goes down by 20-25% on each fundraising round. The VC model promotes growth over all other strategies. T...

The Failure Rate for Startups Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The failure rate for startups is high at almost 90%. Here's a list of reasons why startups fail: The founders underestimate how long it will take to gain traction in the market. The startup runs out of cash. The product fails to find product-market fit....