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...
[Continue Reading]How To Recruit A Great Designer For Your Company
I had a chance to interview Kyle Stalzer, President of ffVC portfolio company Tackk, about an issue that’s top of mind for a lot of our companies: how to recruit an A-quality designer for their company. (Update: Kyle now is Managing Partner, FUEL Strategies.) Next week, I’ll post part 2 in this series: how to...
[Continue Reading]How to keep the people attending your event alive
Do you organize events? Do you like your attendees alive? Event organizers like their attendees to be energetic, enthusiastic, and preferably, alive. Joe Reilly organized 50 events a year while serving as President of the Family Office Association. He said, “Conferences are the unnatural situation par excellence, almost like a casino. You are in a recirculated-air,...
[Continue Reading]A VC Just Cold-Called You; Now What?
One of our founders called me. “An analyst just called me. He works for a VC fund tied to an investment bank. He’s interested in our company and is keen to know more. How much information should I share? “ CEOs need to know what they’re getting into when they talk with VCs, particularly if...
[Continue Reading]Free Copy of The Lower-Risk Startup: How Venture Capitalists Increase the Odds of Startup Success
One of my responsibilities is helping to accelerate value creation in our portfolio companies. I published the first research study on this topic in the Journal of Private Equity, peHub, Betabeat, and Techcrunch. The Journal of Private Equity has now (temporarily) made our full study available for complimentary download: The Lower-Risk Startup: How Venture Capitalists Increase the Odds of Startup Success. They...
[Continue Reading]Turning the Tables: How to Make Venture Capitalists Pitch You
I’m returning to Capital on Stage this fall in New York. Last year, 19 other VC fund Partners and I pitched to 170 attendees; this year the conference organizers expect a similar turnout. You can see online my own pitch and all the other VCs pitching last year in NY . To attend, apply via the CapitalonStage.com website. I...
[Continue Reading]