How To Pitch A VC
March 30, 2009
Watch and learn friends. Dave McClure gives a great presentation on how to pitch to a VC. Watch the following video and flip through the slides. You will laugh. You will cry. You will have a chance at wowing the room the next time you pitch to a VC (or even an angel investor).
Dave McClure - How to Pitch a VC (aka Startup Viagra: How to Give a VC a Hard-On) from Chris Hutchins on Vimeo.
$50,000 New Venture Creation Contest at University of North Texas
March 26, 2009
I just found out that the Murphy Enterprise Center at the University of North Texas is having a Venture Capital Contest. Details and submission form are on the linked page. From the website:
The New Venture Creation Contest (NVCC) is intended to simulate the real-world process of entrepreneurs soliciting start-up funds from early-stage investors and venture capital firms. The NVCC is hosted by the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship within the College of Business at the University of North Texas.
Highlights of the NVCC include:
Real-world opportunities to learn what’s required to successfully launch a new venture
Chance to receive mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs
Opportunities to network with local business leaders
Educational seminars in specialized business practices
High caliber judges who provide quality feedback
$50,000 in prize money
Broad media exposure
Application deadline is May 22nd and it’s only open to UNT students. I’m going to contact them and see if I can do some video recording and/or interviews.
Open Source Funding and Why You Should Burn Your NDA
February 26, 2009
The blogosphere is ablaze with news of Mark Cuban’s most recent idea. Open source funding.
Personally, I love the idea and would love to see this approach taken more often. How much easier does it get if you’re a college kid wanting to start a business. You have to make money by selling your product or service (no ad revenue models, thank goodness), as well as fit within 12 other rules. Easy. Post your b-plan somewhere online, link it in the comments of Mark’s post and BAM! You might just have a very well known investor on board.
Marc at the North Carolina Startup Blog has an excellent post about the Open Source Funding project also. He also mentions Jackson Miller who offered to buy ideas for $0.02 a piece. Why? Because ideas aren’t worth a crap. They’re cheap. Execution is where the difficult part comes in. This brings me to my next (related) topic…
Why You Should Burn Your NDA
If you’re involved in a startup, or want to be, and you have a Non-Disclosure Agreement, burn it. The only thing that an NDA does is protect your idea. I recently got into a pretty giant argument with a close friend of mine about this very subject. He got mad that I told someone else about his idea. He was afraid they were going to steal it. Who cares? If someone else is doing the same thing you are, then find a way to do it better than them. I promise you that as soon as you come to market, someone will likely copy your idea. Being the first to market doesn’t hold as much sway anymore, especially with the early-adopter types that frequent startups.
If you go to an angel investor or a VC firm and ask them to sign an NDA, you will get laughed out of town folks. Here’s why Alexander Muse won’t sign one (here’s why he will, but will charge you for it), here’s one post from the startup lawyer himself, Ryan Roberts, (and another), two from Guy Kawasaki (one here and one here), and one from Brad Feld.
What do all of these guys have in common? They’ve all been involved in startups for quite some time. Some are serial entrepreneurs, some are angel investors, some work for VC funds, but they all know the ins and outs of how it works. If you don’t ever listen to another word I say, listen to them.
Anyone need a light?
