Why do so many venture capitalists ignore the single best predictor of the future: demographics? Paul Graham, cofounder of Y Combinator, observes, “Many suspect that venture capital firms are biased against female founders. This would be easy to detect: among their portfolio companies, do startups with female founders outperform those without? A couple months ago,...
[Continue Reading]Helping women and minorities raise angel capital
In early 2012, my HBS Alumni Angels colleagues and I launched the Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP), an initiative to help women and minority-led businesses to raise capital from the Harvard alumni angel community. This is a partnership between HBS Alumni Angels of Greater NY (HBSAANY) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), the...
[Continue Reading]How to prepare for and run a board meeting
After spending quite a bit of time in board meetings, I worked with a NYU student team to prepare a template for board presentations to investors. In the deck below, I include our best practices on preparing for, running, and closing up on a board meeting, including what to include in your materials. I would...
[Continue Reading]How to Judge an Investment Proposal (especially at Pitch Contests)
I periodically serve as a judge at pitch events for companies raising funding. In every case, I’m assessing each company against our standard criteria for investing. For some of the new employees at our firm, I put together a guide on how to serve as a judge at investment pitch events, evaluate investment ideas, and...
[Continue Reading]ff Venture Capital Is First VC Fund To Raise Capital Under The JOBS Act
ff Venture Capital has consistently generated a gross IRR on invested capital in excess of 30%, in a world where the average ten-year returns for venture capital firms are in the single digits. But, historically we couldn’t say that it in a public setting. Now we can. Software is eating every industry, including the entrepreneurial ecosystem itself. Funding...
[Continue Reading]How To Hire An Outsourced Web Designer And Survive The Process
Last week I interviewed Kyle Stalzer, CEO of a portfolio company, about an issue that’s top of mind for a lot of our companies: How to Recruit an A-Quality Designer for Your Company. This week, I’ll discuss the second-choice alternative: how to hire an outsourced designer for your company. It’s become a truism of the...
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