Investor Connect Podcast

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The Coronavirus economy is accelerating changes already underway. Content and engagement is moving online. This impacts healthcare and education in particular, as well as general business. As a startup, you need to recognize this acceleration and move your business to be a part of i...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Noramay Cadena, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MiLA Capital. Noramay holds three engineering and business degrees from MIT and previously worked in the aerospace field. MiLA Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests globally by leveraging hard and soft resources to build capital-efficient startups. The company funds at pre-seed, seed and post-se...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The Coronavirus has sent the stock market into a wild ride of 1000-point swings every day. In talking with investors, I find the following: Early-stage investors continue to move forward with their investment plans. Later-stage investors are putting their investments on hold to see...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. While the Coronavirus brings a lockdown in the movement of people, it doesn't point to an altered future, but rather an accelerated one. The Coronavirus will accelerate changes in the economy that are underway. We were already shifting the supply chain to include home delivery of gr...

In this episode, Hall welcomes back William Davis, Managing Director, Technology and Investments (New York) of family office LDJ Capital who offer many services, including asset management, financial advisory, philanthropy, art advisory, wealth management, valuations and investor relations. Bill, who started his career in artificial intelligence and robotics and is very experienced in the FinTech...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Jared Augustine, CEO and Co-Founder of Thuzio. Thuzio is a sports events and media company based in New York that hosts pop-up events and produces live shows with iconic athletes. Alongside Jared, Thuzio is run with the combined work of Tiki Barber (New York Giants) and Mark Gerson (GLG). Jared worked in the venture-backed technology businesses nearly his entire care...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The Coronavirus has taken an historic 10-year bull market and turned it into a bear market. With comparisons to 9/11, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the Great Depression, startups and investors are adjusting to a new way of living. In the short term, the investors will look for a...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Brad Payne, CEO and Founder of Walker Trolleys, a designer golf pushcart company based in Austin, Texas. Brad, who worked at Apple for many years is an avid golf player and over the years has used many types of golf pushcarts. He realized that there were many improvements that could be made to the existing models, from how slowly current carts open, to the outdated m...

In this episode, Hall welcomes back David Mes of Off The Grid Ventures, which invests at the seed stage in B2B-tech companies where women and foreign founders are at the helm. This category of founders is underrepresented, but with the help of Off The Grid Ventures, they aim to help their investors achieve top returns on their investments. Since the last podcast, David has been very busy with Off...

In this episode, Hall is joined by impact investor Dr. Alicia Robb, Founder and CEO of Next Wave Impact who are "working to increase diversity, inclusion, and impact in early-stage investing and our entrepreneurial ecosystem through our innovative learning-by-doing progressive fund model." Alicia received her M.S. and Ph. D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Next W...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Samy Eissa, a 12-year veteran in the music industry. He founded Hit Ventures, a boutique VC fund & consulting firm leveraging its exclusive network of partners who assist startups primarily in entertainment, media & hospitality technologies. As an entrepreneur, entertainment professional and business enthusiast, Samy constantly looks to push the envelope with innovat...

In this episode, Hall is joined by Brent Ogilvie co-founder and Managing Director of deep-tech investment firm Pacific Channel Limited, headquartered in New Zealand. Pacific Channel Limited was founded in 2006 and to date, has inserted over NZD $50 million of early-stage funding into 27 New Zealand early-stage companies. The New Zealand government is very supportive of startups and Brent believes...

In this episode, Hall welcomes Pedro Falcão, Managing Director of LC Ventures, the first global, hands-on, accelerator-investment vehicle in Portugal. Pedro's began his career in the 1980's in roles ranging from programmer, to analyst, to strategic consultant (just to name a few). When he realized he wanted to work for himself, Pedro became an early-stage investor and, to date, has invested in ove...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are several approaches to Due Diligence. The most common is the "Thorough Approach" in which you review each aspect of the business and focus on the top items. Main areas to cover in due diligence are: Market What's the market size -- Total, Serviceable, Beachhead? How fast is...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Most investors look for startups in which they can find a return on their investment. In the diligence and funding process, what the investor really wants is to not lose all their money. They want to reduce risk to zero. As a startup raising funding, you can help the investor find c...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. I once read a sixty-five page business plan that talked about the startups' services and the benefits that came from it. After reading it, I met with the CEO and said, "This is great. What is it?" I couldn't figure out exactly what they were selling. From your pitch, investors want...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding you need to build a relationship with the investor and communicate your story. Both take time. It's a numbers game. You have to put yourself in places to meet people. Once you've met someone, you need to build on it with follow ups in email, calls, and meetings. I...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors look for some protection over the idea. Patents and trade secrets can help. Half the value of a patent is for show, to investors. In practice, it's difficult to use patents as the sole means for protecting your business from the competition, but it can help. If you have pa...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, investors want to know what progress the company is making. After the initial presentation the investor wants to hear about progress in four areas: Sales, team, product, and the fundraise. For Sales -- show pipeline forecast, revenue increases, and key accounts g...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Most startups focus on the product first and treat the customer as an after-thought. The investor knows that in the long run, customer revenue will make or break your business -- not the product. In every discussion with an investor you should give a customer update. Even before you...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. To pitch your deal you must first start with a prospect list of investors. Include your contacts who are angels, family offices, and VCs. Canvas your network for those who know angels, family offices, and VCs. This is two degrees of separation which means warm introductions can work...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The investor will look closely at the team in your startup. In particular, they will look for skills and completeness. Your team must have the skills you need to accomplish the work and you're not missing anything important. At the seed level, a complete team is someone who is build...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The sign of a quality pitch is the simplicity in the message. One test is, can you say your business in five words or less? You should know your business well enough that you can boil it down to the core value proposition. Here are some examples: We make radiation hardened memories....

In this episode, Hall is joined by Dana Myers, founder of Myers EV. Myers EV builds and services electric vehicles, something that Dana states he has been obsessed with for decades. The mission of Myers EV is to "make electric vehicles affordable and practical to everyday people". Dana provides facts, statistics and comparisons between gas vehicles and electric vehicles. He explains the many advan...

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, you always start with your core network and increasingly expand the circle outward. The list includes the following: Family Friends Coworkers Your service providers such as attorneys, accountants, etc. Past coworkers As you progress through this list, you ask for...