BLCK VC’s Post

I sat down with Maelle Gavet, CEO of Techstars, a global accelerator and one of the world's most active pre-seed investors. Founded in 2006, Techstars has backed almost 4000 companies, and 9000 Founders, with a combined portfolio market cap of $105B. Some of their invested companies include Remitly, Chainalysis, DataRobot, and Alloy. We discuss:   - Trends and lessons learned at Techstars after 16 years, countless programs, and backing 9000 founders - Why VC is in dire need of reinvention and how it could improve to better serve founders - How Techstars has been able to scale internationally and across programs with a partially decentralized approach - Types of Founders that SHOULD NOT Apply to Techstars - A deep dive into Maelle’s impressive background as a former founder and operator… and a lot more! Matt Oppenheimer Laura Spiekerman Tommy Nicholas Ian Hathaway

Great opportunity if you are interested in investing alongside intelligent and thoughtful investors. Let's connect and discuss how we can maximize returns together! #InvestmentOpportunity #Collaboration #investment #angelinvesting #angelinvestors #porfolio

We’re excited to announce the Neo Investor List: the tech industry’s first transparent directory of VC and angel investor endorsements. Join us in recognizing the investors who will be true partners and servants in building tomorrow's tech giants. This resource is not just for Neo portfolio companies but for the startup ecosystem at large. Any founder can find great investors — from angels to solo GPs to partners at large VC firms — and read what other founders say about them. Today, endorsed investors get access to attend Neo Demo Day. Over time, we’ll explore other ways to connect awesome startups and investors. This is a humble beginning, and our vision is to grow into a world-class resource that celebrates the best of the tech industry. Some of the investors who have already been endorsed by the Neo community include: Sarah Guo, Hunter Walk, Alison Rosenthal (She / Her), Alfred Lin, and Hadi Partovi. https://neo.com/investors

What's an unusual task you've done when you were still "hacking it together"? 🥸 This is me yesterday improvising bartending and setup man for our event. I think an Italian real estate mogul once said an investor surprised him when he had to help out with the building works, so he pretended to be his "cousin". Everyone probably has silly stories like these. Isn't it why it's so much fun to build a biz from scratch? HAPPY FRIDAY FELLOW EMERGING VCs and FOUNDERS. 🏋🏻♂️ PS: The event was an amazing fireside chat full of lessons learned and great networking between Deeptech founders and investors. Next week I'll publish the key ones, so do follow and keep an eye out 👀 #deeptech #familyoffices #limitedpartners #venturecapital #angelinvesting - - - I'm a soloVC building my fund & community in public. 📢 On a mission to build a new kind of tech-driven VC firm at the intersection of Venture, Science and Community 👩🔬 👨💻 👫 💹 ❤️ & Follow+ to keep up with the journey 🛣️

This week our Principal, Louis, was at Dublin Tech Summit moderating a panel. He was joined by Anna Lundin (Norrsken VC), Brendan Rogers (2am VC & Wag! Group Co.), George Mensah (Sure Valley Ventures), and Mark Dowds (RESPONSIBLE) The group covered everything, from how #investors establish rapport with #founders, to the common pitfalls when scaling a business. Key takeaways include: 💡 Personality is everything. At the early stage investors place tremendous weight on founders and the teams they're building. The product comes second. 💡 DD goes both ways. Founders should find investors willing to stay up with them all night to get them to where they want to be. 💡 Diversity, equity and inclusion hold the keys to global scale. Diverse teams see things a homogenous team cannot. Thanks for all for such an enjoyable and insightful session. See you next year Dublin Tech Summit 🙌 #Insight #Investment #DubTechSummit #VC

We are excited for #DenverStartupWeek in September and will be attending a variety of events! We're especially excited to see our DCVF Alumni active and involved across events and panels. If you're attending and would like to connect with a member of DCVF, please send us DM! We'd love to grab a coffee and talk with you about your startup or recent investments. #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #startups #networking #investing #innovation

Great research from DocSend on pitch decks and getting VC funding. As we move into 2024 thinking about "uniqueness of your ideas" and "why now" is critical. This report is jam packed full of great information. #Impact #VentureTech 2023 seed round report with latest fundraising & VC interest trends Seed funding has continued to drop off in 2023 and VCs are now spending less than 2 minutes on average for each pitch deck. Learn where investors are focusing within a pitch deck and what they are responding positively to in these highly competitive times. DocSend's research-backed seed round report dives into the latest fundraising trends and the keys to success based on data from over 170 seed companies. Download the seed report now https://lnkd.in/gbsUbEMB

🌟 Excited to share insights from the first session of the Venture Forward program for Women in VC! 🌟 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: 👉 Leverage Your Background: Experience in operator roles or angel investing helps 👉 Build Networks: Seek mentors, learn from (wo)men in VC, and view challenges with humor 👉 Define Your Brand: Understand your strengths, get feedback, and articulate your unique value 👉 Cultivate Allies: Build relationships with senior supporters and gather references over time 👉 Focus on Track Record and Expertise: Be strategic and analytical in your investments, and understand that success takes time 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞: 💡 Be curious and relentless. ⏰ Patience is crucial. 💸 Fundraising is as important as investing. Thank you to the speakers and participants for the valuable insights! European Women in VC, Gülsah Wilke - DN Capital, Rainer Märkle - HV Capital, Evgenia Plotnikova - Dawn Capital 🙏. Look forward to the next session! #VentureForward #WomenInVC

I recently ran an interesting experiment to get founders investor intros and although it took awhile, I think it's going to work well. It's called an investor coop and here's how it works: After meeting a founder in a specific industry (in this case Biotech/Healthtech) I made sure that they were reasonable people, making legitimate progress, and ready to pitch. If they met all three characteristics, I invited them to share 5-10 investors that they had already spoken with (ideally with an industry focus). Then, once I had 3-5 founders, and they had each given the names of their 5-10 investors that they already knew, I went through and sorted which companies should be intro'd to which founders. Here's where it gets exciting. The founders then send one email with the description of 2-4 companies that are relevant to those investors. Each founder got their materials sent directly to 7 investors, from trusted sources! Give warm intros and get warm intros. If you want to be a part of future investor coops, reach out! #founders #vcs #warmintros

#SummerOfCuriosity | We are back with another topic for reflection, this time related to the future of angel investing. Andrea Piazza, our expert from Tech Investors Academy, shared her perspective on how the world of angel investing is evolving and what it holds for the future. What are your thoughts on this? Watch the extended session on SeedBlink Circle, our community platform, in the Video Library section. #summer2023 #longlifelearning #startupinvesting