Adam ODonnell

The Founder Initiative

Technology EN ↓ 219 episodes

Helping founders hit PMF, get funded & drive durable growth through podcasting & buyer events(Formerly TheTop. VC)

Author

Adam ODonnell

Episodes

Tesla of Motorcycles? - Oben's Founder, Madhumita Agrawal; funding a hardware startup in a recession 13.02.2023 17:31

Tesla for Motorcycles? - Oben's Founder, Madhumita Agrawal; funding a hardware startup in a recession - Keep fundraising until the money is in the bank! - Referrals, referrals, referrals - Fundraising is for founders

TechCrunch Disrupt Winner: Minerva Lithium's Founder, Sheeba Dawood; how did they win? 07.02.2023 12:22

What's it like to win Techcrunch Disrupt? Minerva Lithium's founder shares what they did, how she felt, and what their building!

[$1.3B AUM] Crosslink Capital's Tobias Nilsson-Roos: how to nail your first meeting with a VC 27.01.2023 13:00

How to nail your first meeting with a VC--> 1. Solve for getting a second meeting 2. Nail your story/narrative 3. Don't explain every part of your business!

VamosVentures's Principal, Ashley Aydin: breaking imposter syndrome during a pitch, LatinX investment trends, & Miga Health investment reasoning 24.01.2023 17:02

Ashley Aydin is a Principal at VamosVentures. They invest in early-stage tech-enabled companies led by Latinx and diverse founders!

[$600+ AUM] M13's Anna Barber; why multiples ACTUALLY went down & how to shift your funding strategy 17.01.2023 17:10

Who will get funded now? Capital efficient, but don't suck too much capital Velocity Consistency - great investor updates

[$10M Seed] Using a white paper to oversubscribe your round; Dan Bladen, Founder of Kadence 05.01.2023 13:38

The most impactful strategy you used to close your round? - Wrote a white paper...there are a lot of companies out there. They wrote a white paper about the future of work - Wrote it on Notion, put it behind a wall, 15-20 min read...filtered out those that are interested...

Angular Ventures's, David Peterson: 3 things VCs look for what YOU might not have in your deck? 13.12.2022 13:59

Angular Ventures's, David Peterson: 3 things VCs look for what YOU might not have in your deck? Secret insight & how did you find it? Is there a movement that you could be the center of? Can you attract the right talent?

GTMfund's Scott Barker; nail these 4 things if you want a chance of raising in this environment 08.12.2022 15:15

Nail these 4 things if you want a chance of raising in this environment - Who was your warm intro? How well do they know the space? - Founder conviction is super important. What brought you to this point? How did you come across this problem? Why dedicate the next 10 years to solving it? - Real advisor relationship in your slide deck? - Can you withstand industry expert scrutiny? - How...

[Airtable's former VP of Growth] Darius Contractor; showing VCs how you could return their fund 15.11.2022 19:30

How do you show a VC that your company could return their fund? --> Strategic Sequencing...

[$12M Seed, Greylock Invested] Rishabh Jain, Co-Founder of Fermat Commerce; raising in a downturn 08.11.2022 15:57

[$12M Seed Greylock invested] Rishabh Jain, Co-Founder of Fermat Commerce; raising in a downturn - thesis alignment is more important during a downturn - what is your mega trend?

Mendoza Ventures, GP Senofer Mendoza; how to share the 'elephant in the room' with a VC 01.11.2022 14:14

You have something in your business that is scary to a VC...make sure you share it the right way

Atlassian Ventures & others just invested $12.5M in Allstacks; learn from founder Hersh Tapadia on how he did it 27.10.2022 13:48

What's it like to raise a round right now? Learn what Hersh did to close a $12M Series A. Companyon Ventures, Atlassian Ventures, and CreativeCo join returning investors to fuel accelerated go-to-market investment

Fiat Ventures, General Partner, Drew Glover: sharing your GTM tests and strategies in your deck 18.10.2022 19:35

- sharing your GTM tests and strategies in your deck - getting creative with your GTM and how to share that with investors

Adam Burrows, Founder of Range Ventures: competitor response, VC updates, and common red flags during due diligence 11.10.2022 15:22

- How to respond to --> "Why is Microsoft not going to do this?" - How to do VC updates, and common red flags during due diligence - Investment breakdown

[$450M AUM] Ridge Ventures, Partner Yousuf Khan: don't overlook the power of nailing your story 04.10.2022 15:42

Nail your story - you have heard this before, BUT it is the most important thing you can do Go deep with the problem in a verbal pitch Work with VCs that know your space

Raising $70M in a downturn in 6-weeks; Matt Danna, CEO of Boulevard 27.09.2022 18:22

- Don't raise, unless you have to - Get ready for 2x as many follow up questions - Get ready for 2x as many representatives from the VC on the call - IRL still matters

Why they invested in Paccurate - SpringTime Ventures, Matt Blomstedt; case studies, customer calls, & sharing your weaknesses 20.09.2022 18:23

Timing matters Investing is best...when you have time to watch them operate False sense of urgency Customer calls Don’t downplay

[$42M raised] Onramp's Founder, Eric Youngstrom: how they closed $42M; multiples & investor timelines 13.09.2022 15:08

Eric Youngstrom shares how they closed $42M. He dives into how he thinks about valuations and where he spent his time during the raise. #SimilarToEnterpriseSales

[#1 on Product Hunt] Gated's CEO, Andy Mowat, raised millions by prioritizing branding 30.08.2022 15:15

Learn how Gated raised millions by prioritizing branding, manifestos, and investor newsletters. Here exactly what he did!

Monta Vista Capital; Sameer Chopra: Founders, are you going to return their fund? 23.08.2022 18:17

LEARN - How a VC evaluate a company that they actually invested in - The top thing to consider in your pitch

Pitch Review: Mayfield's ($2.2B AUM) Partner, Rajeev Batra, shares top trends & analyzes a founder's pitch 26.07.2022 19:47

Learn: 1. Top three trends Rajeev is investing in now 2. How to improve your pitch 3. What VCs are saying about you after the pitch

YC Founder; Applying & How They Raised $5M With No Deck; Promoted.ai's CEO, Andrew Yates 19.07.2022 16:47

Andrew raised $5M from YC and others without a deck... Biggest learning --> He shares how they structured their YC application

YC Founder Just Closed $5M: echo3D's CEO, Alon Grinshpoon shares his winning deck 12.07.2022 22:17

See a deck that Alon used to close $5M from top VCs in a difficult macro environment.

Bain Capital & Battery Invested: Fulcrum's Founder, Sunny Han - moving from pitching to evaluating 21.06.2022 16:40

Acknowledge the fear but move from pitching to evaluating They were funded by consulting projects before burning the boats and raising money You know more VCs than you think, leverage the mutual connection

$400M+ AUM, Defy.vc's Bob Rosin; why, when & how to get the best angel investors 14.06.2022 15:32

- Who are the best angel investors for your cap table? - How he considers definability as you solve a big and hard problem