How Old-style Pitching Hurts Investor Valuation
When you seek capital, a growing company’s investor valuation is critical because if you get funding and your valuation is low, you’re going to lose control of the company or at the very least have less power. And you’ll have less cash when you exit. The effect of a low valuation is substantial on […]
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Vision Masters Wanted
Not every innovator should make an appointment to connect with me. There’s just not enough time in the day. We’re interested in speaking with innovators who are: Looking to raise capital (not grants), and Vision masters, not visionaries The difference you ask? A visionary sees the future. A “vision master” makes the future. Yes, I’d […]
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Seven Critical Lessons Innovators Can Learn from Jony Ive Leaving Apple
This is going to be controversial. This is going to be good. Read on… As the old story goes, a pessimist walks into a room with a pile of dung and says “There’s nothing here but a pile of horse sh*t.” An optimist walks into a room finding just a pile of horse sh*t and declares […]
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Raising Capital the Navy Seal’s Way – The One Key That Opens the Door to Funding
Raising capital the Navy Seal’s way inspired by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Let’s meet these guys. JOCKO WILLINK is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, host of the top-rated Jocko Podcast, and co-founder of Echelon Front. LEIF […]
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5 Core Principles of Agile Company Growth and Funding – Life Hacks for Vision Masters #5
The other day I was observing a group of ants efficiently pursuing their objectives on a foraging mission in my new garden. When a barrier emerged, such as a small pool of water, they’d explore its edges, quickly huddle, seek a path around the water, communicate to the foraging troops, then move on toward the […]
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Get Spanxed & Win – Profiles in Vision Mastery #4
Victor Hugo famously wrote that “nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” But what if the idea is yours. How do you know when it’s time has come? Where do you look for proof? Do you wait to go to market until the world agrees with you until your idea is […]
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The Key to Successful Relationships with Investors
One evening recently I received an urgent call from a client. “We need your help, Rob,” the client’s anxious voice said. I asked what the problem was. “We have two investors, each offering a different type of deal and we can’t decide which to go with.” Now, I realize that this qualifies as one of […]
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Fundraising is No “Bull” or is it? – The Science of Funding Part II
In my last post, I introduced you to the concept of a science for fundraising. By analogy, I described briefly some of the work in trial science as illustrated in the CBS television show “Bull,” which is based on the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw. In trial science, the goal is to select a […]
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Raising Capital Is No “Bull”, Or Is It?
Raising capital is no bull Have you ever tried to solve Rubik’s Cube? How did you do? How long did it take? Did you get some outside assistance? It’s a deceptively difficult puzzle, isn’t it? A simple cube, six sides, each side bearing nine smaller sections of the same color. You mix them all up […]
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Jedi Mind Tricks to Win Investors
We’ve devoted plenty of time on this blog to look carefully at the idea of developing and deepening investor trust. I encourage you to continue to review these posts and to apply the principles I’ve shared because they work. For those who haven’t spent much time reading my posts on trust, please do yourself a […]
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