Cold Read – Musiervsal – Some kind of decentralised music studio concept
This pitch deck is a goldmine of examples on how to get an investor to spend a lot of time on your pitch deck, but also how to really piss an investor off with over-hyping to-a-fault the problem/solution alongside proposing a rather naive fundraise strategy For those who don’t know, a ‘cold read’ is where […]
Startup Fundraising Bootcamp – How to have a conversation with a potential investor
That’s right, founderlings! There’s too much advice out there telling you how to ‘pitch’ – but nowhere near enough telling you how to ‘talk’. I’ve attempted to condense my 13 years of startup fundraising experience into a short and snappy ‘bootcamp’ – covering things I wish someone told me on day one. There’s of course […]
Cold Read – Rockids – a reading-trainer application for young children with dyslexia
Now this is an *excellent* example of an early-stage/pre-seed pitch deck. Like… really… wowsers! It’s often too easy to show/share things that people do badly – but if it’s not counter-balanced with sharing what people do right, then what’s the point, eh?! Here we have Rockids – a reading-trainer application for young children with dyslexia. […]
WTF is Startup Fundraising? The importance of understanding ‘Owner Motivation’
Hello chums. When a founder ‘raises money’ through investment, they’re essentially inviting another individual or company to become another *owner* of their startup. Obviously, for the privilege (and I really do mean that word – privilege), they pay a price to become an owner. But – why? What are they motivated by when it comes […]
WTF is Startup Fundraising? Understanding the importance of your Founder Character type
Hello fellow founderlings. Startup fundraising is a tricky thing at the best of times. But a common error from my observation is that founders attempt to speak a language that isn’t their own. They often believe it’s important to ‘speak biznuss’. To come across like a seasoned CEO. They tie themselves in knots and fall […]
Cold Read – MeliorAI – a set of AI models used to help organise high-volume documents
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. #founders!!! NEVER EVER DO THIS! I felt compelled to create a cold read based on an unsolicited email from one of those ‘fundraise broker companies’. Now, a good broker company – if the founders are just starting out – can be a helpful thing. I’m not anti […]
WTF is Startup Fundraising anyway?! Part 2: Know who you’re talking to…
Raising investment is hard. But I believe it’s hard because people follow too much advice on *how* to raise money, instead of asking for advice on *why* people invest in startups in the first place. it’s a big topic – obviously – and this is only a few minutes. In these few minutes, I speak […]
WTF is Startup Fundraising? Part 1 – think of it like changing momentum
Ah. Fundraising. A commonly misunderstood topic. In today’s small little nugget, I make the comparison that fundraising is like using money to change your project’s momentum. Momentum is made up of ‘stuff’, ‘speed’ and a ‘direction’. When you fundraise, you kinda take a punt on how much of those things might change as a result […]
Cold Read – Tickets for Good
PITCH DECK COLD READ TIME! Here we have a fine example of a founder attempting to create a new and novel kind of #pitchdeck , but it failing totally and miserably 🙁 Watch the video to see how… Oh dear 🙁 In this Cold Read, we have Tickets for Good – an events ticket reseller […]
Crowdcube Pitch Review – Howbout – August 2022 (Full Version)
This is the full version review of the Howbout pitch deck on Crowdcube (https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/h…) In short, a good deck – but 4 really important unanswered questions… 1) How do they see investors getting a return? It’s not clear in their financial model 2) User growth – numbers are good but only if it’s retention 3) […]