Alex Iskold shares some insights he has picked up over the last seven years writing checks at Techstars NYC and 2048 focusing on how fund economics for pre-seed investing differs from other stages of venture investing.
Management
Master Your Marketing Funnel and Media Mix
This post will help you learn the various stages of the marketing funnel, the right tactics and metrics to explore at each stage of the funnel, and how to translate that into an effective media mix.
How To Prevent Your Founder’s Shares From Vaporizing
Every entrepreneur needs to understand the following basics, to be addressed at company formation, as they engage a qualified attorney to draw up the paperwork.
The Benefits of a Hard Reset
“I’m staring down the barrel of having to do a massive layoff at my company and tear down tons of work and decisions we’ve made. This feels awful. Is there any way to look at this situation as a positive, and if so, what should I be optimizing for (other than hair loss)?”
A Fair Pricing Model for Pre-Seed Rounds
The idea is essentially to raise the capital in tranches using multiple valuation caps, to minimize founder dilution, and to reward the earliest investors who aren’t just willing to commit but are willing to wire the capital too.
When is the Right Time to Give Up Equity?
I’m thinking about using some of my equity to make a big move in my startup, but I’m worried about losing too much equity in the process. When is the right time for me to give up some equity and when should I hang back and look for a better situation?
Covid and the Winter of Our Discontent
What is an entrepreneur (last time I looked, entrepreneurs are people, too, subject to all the slings and arrows of human experience) to do during a dark moment like this? How can an emerging business move forward when everything is locked down?
5 Keys to a Startup Team That Can Develop Any Market
You need to make sure that everyone on the team, from the clerical assistant to the chief financial officer, knows your vision and product, and doesn’t hesitate to actively engage and be an effective proponent with anyone who might be of value to the business. Here’s why…
Adopt a Decision Process that Works for the Long Term
Most entrepreneurs are so overwhelmed by the day-to-day challenges of their business that they rarely take the time to work on longer-term strategy (they work in the business versus on the business). As a result, strategy decisions are made in the same ad-hoc crises style as operational decisions, and the business suffers. Gut reactions are rarely the optimal solution to any problem.
Where We Are Investing Now: Microbiome
Scientific exploration of the microbiome represents the opening of one of the greatest new areas of science in decades, perhaps centuries. It has the potential to rival Einstein’s impact on physics or the double helix on understanding biology. While young, this area shows historic potential across a dizzying expanse of health and human experience.