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 put founders in a boxing ring in Hollywood and let three VCs tell them, live, why they'd pass. 🥊 60 seconds to pitch. Then the questions. The full fight from @Techweek_ LA Tech Week is below 👇 In one corner: Sarah Romanko (@geek_ventures), Martin Cox (Voice Capital), La Keisha Landrum Pierre (@vc_emmeline) and @MandelAngel (EmergingVC). In the other: founders who wanted the truth, not "keep us posted". Third city, third ring: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles 🥊 What the week told us: → 86% of the founders we surveyed are raising now or within six months. → The investor's biggest time sink is the inbox. They read the clear no's for fear of missing the one yes. → Slow decisions lose good deals. → Claims need checking, not just reading. That includes "we're closing fast". The best question of the day came from a founder to the panel: "Do you know whether you're going to invest within the first two minutes?" Watch the answer 📽️ Thank you @Citizens_PB and @deel for sponsoring, and Office of Tomorrow for co-hosting Next round: Helsinki, 18 November 🇫🇮 @alanpun_ , @the_futt Join us: gopresent.ai/events

@Techweek_ are you not entertained? We put leading VCs in a boxing ring and had Founders try and take on the champs in a pitch battle 🥊 Huge thank you to Sarah Romanko of @geek_ventures and Bryan Liu of @alumniventures If you joined us, drop a comment and we'll send you the content VCs we're look for design partners for the next iteration of GoPresent, message me to find out more ... and founders, I'm feeling generous today, here's $100 in credits: https:gopresent.ai/intake #vc #sftw #investors #Startup #Founders

After weeks of VC meetings and hosting VCs in Boxing rings for @Techweek_ I wrote an article on the state of venture capital If you're in VC or a founder currently raising this article of for you timhaydenclark.substack.com/…

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.

@a16z that was wiiiild 4x VCs 8x Founders Pitching 100x Investors & Founders Ringside Thank you to @CitizensBank & @deel for making it such a spectacle join @alanpun_ in the future VC Boxing Rings - DM #LATW #LATechWeek #Startup #Founder #VC

Few Deals, Bigger Cheques 💰 How does a founder truly differentiate themselves from the noise? How does a founder become truly VC-backable? Our VC Boxing Ring Panel will share all their insight at TECH WEEK by a16z Our Headline "Boxers" for our MAIN EVENT Sarah Romanko and @geek_ventures 🥊 Martin Cox of Voice Capital 🥊 La Keisha Landrum Pierre of @VCEmmeline 🥊 One mystery VC 🥊 Huge thank you to all the incredible people who have made this possible, including our sponsors Miles Deamer of @CitizensBank and Madalyn Woronoff (Messner) & Madeleine Futterman of @deel Bring on the most glamorous boxing ring the bright lights of LA have to offer 🎥 RSVP: lnkd.in/ehd_Vcjm #LATechWeek #LATW #VC #Founder #Startup

Space is limited by launch economics. Every kilogram of water, fuel, shielding, and metal must climb out of Earth’s gravity well—making large-scale orbital industry prohibitively expensive. Asteroids change that #founder #startup #space #asteroid #20str #techweekbyaz16

This is @cruz.hq of @stagera.ai Cruz is solving the AVL production problem with Stagera, a platform to streamline insight and operational processes, all in one agentic platform #sf #founder #sales #ai #fundraising #techweekbyaz16

Great to have Sharif Bennett of CineBlock® on 20 seconds to raise. He's rebuilding how entertainment gets financed. CineBlock is an equity crowdfunding marketplace for film, TV, games and more, so anyone can legally invest in or finance a production. #FounderSeries #techweek