GoPresent

The scariest thing from our @Techweek_ rings: We asked everyone to write one question for the investors on stage. Founders asked how you get to yes. So did 3 of the 5 investors who wrote one. If investors are asking each other, the decision mostly isn’t written down. “Too early” is venture’s ghost story 👻. Everyone’s heard it. Hardly anyone has seen it written down. One founder told us they kept hearing it from funds that invest at pre-seed. And the house is more haunted than it looks: → 68% of US venture money this year went into 10 deals → 992 unicorns are still private, worth $5.7tn between them → Only 18 venture-backed companies went public in Q3 → We had 8 founders for every investor on our RSVP forms Money isn’t what’s scarce outside the ten. Attention is. So, a treat for each side. Founders: when you hear “too early”, ask one question. What would change your answer? Investors: write yours down as evidence, not an adjective. The milestone, the number or the customer. Then tell the founder. A no with a reason attached is the cheapest deal flow you’ll ever buy, because the good ones come back. If you write cheques, could you hand a founder your definition of “too early” tomorrow, in writing? Happy Halloween 🎃

We rented a real boxing ring in Hollywood and let VCs tell founders, live, why they’d pass 🥊 Six founders. One minute each. No hiding. Here’s what two @a16z Tech Weeks taught us 👇 #SFTW 🌉 We opened with Why Investors Say No. Sarah Romanko (@geek_ventures ) and Bryan Liu (@alumniventures ) told founders exactly where a pitch loses them #LATW 🎬 Then we took it to Hollywood: a real ring at @unifiedbxngclub and a VC panel giving verdicts in real time. Thank you to @Citizens_PB and @deel for sponsoring, and to Office of Tomorrow for co-hosting. What we learned → Founders are raising now. 86% of the founders we surveyed in LA are raising now or within six months → The inbox is the investor’s biggest time sink. Investors read deals that are clearly a no, for fear of missing the one that isn’t → Speed wins deals. Slow internal decisions are how good investments get lost → Claims need checking, not just reading. That includes the “we’re closing fast” urgency Those last three are why we’re building GoPresent: we do the homework, so investors can make the call Next round: @SlushHQ 🇫🇮 Helsinki, 18–19 November. We’re hosting a house party. Announcement soon. Going to Slush? Reply or DM. We want to meet you.