Investor Connect Podcast

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. With the growing number of startups seeking funding, it's easy to increase your corporate VC fund to capture more deals. Fund sizes in many corporate VCs increase almost every year. For many startups, too much funding can bring unexpected problems. It's best to start small and grow...

In this episode, Hall welcomes JC Otero, COO & Co-Founder of Change4Change. Headquartered in Austin, TX, Change4Change's mission is to democratize the political fundraising process by broadening the donor base, making fundraising more accessible to all, while combating the influence of big money in politics. It is this monumental challenge that compelled JC to join forces with Nik Kulkarni to star...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Corporate venture capital is venture funding from a company, rather than a fund raised from limited partners. Most corporate venture capital invests for strategic reasons rather than financial ones. Reasons for corporations to invest in startups include the following: - Gain market...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Caroline Lewis, Partner at Rogue Venture Partners and Managing Partner of Rogue's Women's Fund. Rogue Venture Partners is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in startups. It seeks to invest in new and growing businesses in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The company invests in entrepreneurs that reject the status quo, and who are driven by market tra...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Corporate VCs follow the startup cycle with many launching their programs at the peak of the cycle. Most Corporate VCs last about 4 to 6 years, at which point the economic cycle creates a challenging environment for the company. To be successful at running a corporate VC, you'll nee...

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled "How to Solve the Cannabis Problem", you'll hear about growth in the cannabis segment. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new world. The cannabis space is now undergoing tremendous change as we shift back t...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Overall, corporate VCs invest more than traditional VCs by about 2%. Corporate VCs operate the same as traditional VCs with some exceptions: Corporate VCs seek a strategic advantage rather than a financial return Many don't lead funding rounds but only follow them They bring strateg...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jim Denholm, Founder & CEO at IronBridge Private Wealth. IronBridge Private Wealth was founded in Austin, Texas, to combine the strength and resources of a large financial firm with the independence of a local company. They are true fiduciaries of their clients'​ wealth. Having real risk management strategies that adapt to changing market conditions, while understand...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Corporate venture capital is an existing business utilizing venture funding to further the company's strategic objectives. The firm takes an equity stake in startups either through an internal fund or off the corporate balance sheet. Unlike traditional venture capital, corporate VCs...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Gopi Rangan, Founding Partner at Sure Ventures. Sure Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing with a mission to enable peace of mind. The main areas of focus are pre-seed and seed-stage startups in the insurance, aging, care, mental health, wealth management, and related sectors. Gopi created Sure Ventures after spending more than a decade le...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Corporate venture capital is an existing business utilizing venture funding to further the company's strategic objectives. The firm takes an equity stake in startups either through an internal fund or off the corporate balance sheet. Unlike traditional venture capital, corporate VCs...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Ganesh Padmanabhan, VP, Global Business Development & Strategic Partnerships at BeyondMinds, technologist, entrepreneur, and early-stage investor. Founded in 2018, BeyondMinds has built the first enterprise AI solution that is universally applicable and easily adaptable. They deliver hyper-customized, production-ready AI systems that enable sophisticated companies to...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. To ensure an advisor engagement is successful, make sure you set up an advisor agreement. This is a contract between the advisor and the company and defines the work to be done. Here are some key points to consider: Make clear what the advisor will do -- bring experience, contacts,...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jeffrey Cherry, Founder and Managing Partner at Conscious Venture Partners, LLC, and Founder/Executive Director of Conscious Venture Lab. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, the Conscious Venture Fund II (the "Fund" or "CVFUND 2") is an early-stage venture capital fund by Conscious Venture Partners. The fund partners with their business accelerator the Conscious Ve...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. For family and friends funding, sometimes a promissory note is used to set up a loan. Here are some key points to consider in reading a promissory note: The note summary section establishes the relationship between the borrower and the lender, the date of the note, the total loan am...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Connor Davidson, Partner at Atlanta Seed Company. Established in December of 2019, the Atlanta Seed Fund I aims to expand upon their mission of bringing access to high-quality, early-stage investments to their clients. The Fund's primary purpose is to purchase minority interests in Seed and Series A technology companies across the US, primarily located in secondary m...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In negotiating the valuation, it's important to understand the impact of that valuation on follow-on rounds and the exit. A waterfall analysis maps out the cap table with subsequent rounds of funding. To run a waterfall analysis, create a spreadsheet with the cap table owners and th...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The Cap Table is an important part of any diligence process. In reviewing a startup's Cap Table, look for these signs of a problem: The current team has little equity and thus little incentive to see it through to an exit. The Cap Table is complicated with multiple share classes. Th...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jim Thomas, Partner at Kirenaga Partners. Kirenaga is a Japanese term used to describe a knife or sword blade. It literally translates to the duration of sharpness or amount of edge retention. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Kirenaga Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on building great businesses from cutting-edge technologies. They invest in...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Eric Levine, Fitness Expert, Investor, and Founder and CEO of Eric Levine Global. Eric started in the fitness industry in 1979, when he was the first franchisee for Golds Gym, and opened up a chain of six clubs. These six clubs were the most profitable in the entire Gold's chain of more than 100 clubs. During that time Eric established Super Gym Advertising and Marke...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors review the cap table as part of their diligence process. They look for the following in the cap table: The founders have a large enough stake that keeps them motivated. Those who have very little ownership will most likely not stay with it for the long haul. The right peop...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Phil Pelucha, Chief Empowerment Officer at Billionaires in Boxers. Billionaires in Boxers currently provides podcast publicity for circa 100 current and future industry leaders, produces over 50 business podcasts, and manages award-winning podcasts, TV, and movie business content for 15+ satellite TV networks globally. Ranked as one of the Top 100 Podcasters in the w...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A fully-diluted cap table shows the impact of the conversion of convertible notes. A convertible note has a date of issue, an interest rate, a discount rate, a valuation cap, and a maturity date. Upon maturity, the debt typically converts to equity. The conversion is based on the pr...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Filipe R. Portela, Managing Partner at COREangels Impact. COREangels Impact makes angel investing professional and global, improving outcomes while contributing and enjoying the journey. They are a pre-seed impact investment fund focused on European social & environmental impact projects. COREangels is a network of people who are passionate about helping entrepreneur...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. It's important to manage your cap table as you go. Fixing it later will cost you time and money. Here are some key points for managing your cap table: Consider setting up your cap table with a provider that keeps track of all transactions in one place. Founders should take ownership...