I’m now researching automated personalized introduction services. These companies are like dating sites for businesspeople. They help identify the most relevant people whom you should meet, but haven’t yet. They ask both parties for an opt-in, and then make the intro. Here’s a partial list of the vendors I’ve identified: Grappa.xyz – reputation graph of...
[Continue Reading]What is the Best CRM and Marketing Tech Platform for a New Private Equity/Venture Capital Fund?
One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. I’m very interested in the tech stack of private equity/VC firms, both to improve our internal efficiency and also because I have a focus on investing in ‘investment tech’. I run PEVCTech,...
[Continue Reading]First-ever survey of VC tech stacks
We think one of the industries with the greatest room for improved use of technology is venture capital itself. Blue Future Partners, a fund of funds, and PEVCTech.com are now running what we believe is the first-ever large-scale survey of VC firms’ technology stacks. Filling out this survey should take you no more than 7...
[Continue Reading]Sales 2.0: why can’t sales be as efficient as online dating?
I’m teaching a class for Founder Institute July 8 on accelerating sales with technology. This has been a passion of mine for well over a decade, ever since I realized how inefficient sales was and how technology could be used to speed up the process. This is a core theme of my book, The Virtual...
[Continue Reading]How to get world class experts to support your company
As the former CEO of a professional expert network, I’m a firm believer in the value of speedy access to relevant experts. I was excited to see that GLG (formerly Gerson Lehrman Group), the industry leader, is now offering a professional network service geared to the needs of the startup community: GLG Share. When you’re...
[Continue Reading]Where are the deals? How VCs source winning companies
You’ve probably read dozens of articles about how to raise capital from venture capitalists. However, as a VC, we have the opposite problem: how do we originate companies in which to invest? It might appear that origination is becoming much easier because of new tools like AngelList and the SEC moving toward adoption of rules that will...
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