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Preparing to pitch investors is all about getting your pitch materials in order. Most investor introductions follow a common sequence of events that will require you to provide different versions of your business plan throughout the process.

Investors want to find the right fit. They want to see the right location, market size and traction, among other things.

In many cases, it’s the same information simply repackaged to fit the right method of communication. For example, providing a couple sentences makes sense to explain your business in an email, but won’t cut it in a presentation. Conversely, sending a 50-page business plan attached to your introduction email is surely the wrong approach toward making a good first impression with invest...

Working as a leader for a start-up is not for the weak. It requires a “rare unicorn” type of leader to see it through to stable profitability. The success of a business is how many unicorns you have on your team and how well they sparkle. What traits do I look for when seeking out the most sparkly unicorns of them all?

A “Hustler” 💪

Hustling unicorns run long and fast, they work with a sense of urgency, and they do it with a smile. They have an extra comb in their pocket and come prepared with water and snacks for the ride. Unicorns are prepared, work hard and look GOOD doing it. 🙂 There is no complaining of long weeks or long hours….in fact, they enjoy the hustle.

Sparkle Indicator: Horses act “put out” by a workload. Unicorns will ask fo...

What you’ve heard is true: The robots are coming to take our jobs. But instead of fearing our machine counterparts, should we be thanking them?

In the future, artificial intelligence and automation technology will begin to take over in a big way, transforming the entire way we do business. In fact, that future is closer than we think — automation is already beginning to take over in areas many wouldn’t have thought possible even a few years ago.

It’s taking over mundane tasks, such as in the case of X.ai, which has created automated assistants that can schedule meetings and conduct basic email correspondence without the aid of human beings. It’s also taking over more complex duties, like writing news articles, coding new software, and even ...

LinkedIn was founded in 2002 — and, even with its recent facelift, their basic product reflects that. While the world is moving on to more and more people working freelance (and frequently working multiple jobs), LinkedIn is stuck in the past — a time when people would stay with one company and one role over an extended period of time. The interface is tired; their “inmail” system is annoying; and it’s really more of a utility than any kind of delight.

Luckily, while LinkedIn is a dinosaur in startup years — there are newer, younger companies yipping at its heels — companies like VentureApp.

“LinkedIn is a really really really good resume database,” VentureApp CEO Chase Garbarino tells Startups.co. “But I think there’s a lot to be desired ...

Sallie Krawcheck is one of my favorite entrepreneurs I’ve met in 2017, after many years following her career as one of the most senior women on Wall Street. A 2002 Fortune Magazine cover put her face as the hope of trust on Wall Street with a headline: “The Last Honest Analyst.”

Indeed, she was fired in 2008 from Citi because she wanted to bank to reimburse clients for bad investments that were the bank’s fault. Or as she put it in an on stage interview in 2016, “I was fired for being a woman,” because women are more focused on relationships and long-term outcomes than men on Wall Street.

What do you do when you reach the pinnacle of your career– farther than almost any other woman in Wall Street has climbed– and then get fired for doing th...

There's nothing quite like being worth millions on paper and still not being able to afford the shittiest car.

If this sounds familiar, it's because many of us maintain an extraordinary paper worth that's worth absolutely nothing outside of our conference room.

Investors say I'm worth millions. My credit card company disagrees.

It's not uncommon (at all!) for Founders to have all of their net worth tied up in their company without a real dollar to show for it.

That's because the value we have in our stock has zero liquidity — it's a promise of a future payout — without any pay. This dichotomy is maddening to any startup Founder, not to mention almost any business owner since the dawn of time.

Why doesn't a bank think I'm worth something?...

Five years ago I dropped out of a PhD program and started my first company. I had no idea what I was doing and made every mistake you could imagine. Needless to say that business didn’t last very long.

Since then I’ve gone on to start three more companies — one venture-backed, two service-based — each with varying levels of success and failure.

From these experiences there’s one lesson I’ve learned that’s remarkably simple, exceedingly powerful and virtually universal: good things happen when you’re helpful.

Clear a path and make others look good

I was recently introduced to Ryan Holiday’s “canvas strategy”. In short, his “canvas strategy” speaks to the notion of identifying mentors and actively finding ways to support them and their missi...

We were lucky to have Retail Growth Strategist Vanessa Ting share her tips for attracting major retailers for your startup project. Now with Buyerly.com and Retail Path, she helps product companies strengthen their appeal to major retail buyers nationwide. Below are our 10 big takeaways.

1. Build Sales Traction

Always collect sales data. Make sure to note your sell-through numbers and not just what is being shipped out. You can get creative with how you illustrate this to retailers, noting any increases in orders over time or PR that led to a spike in sales.

2. Create Brand Awareness

It is important to make sure you have the marketing support to create a brand identity both in the store and out of it. Without this, your product will just coll...

“Truly great delivered product is the result of a team, a true partnership between product and engineering.” [1]

As a product guy, I’ve worked with hundreds of software engineers and counting. Those Devs have been some of my favorite people throughout my career. “Software is eating the world.”[2] Devs everywhere should be proud of what they’ve built.

But just as those past successes were not automatic, neither will be future successes. We need to keep improving. And it’s in that spirit that I have a couple suggestions for my Dev friends who write code. Here’s why.

Get the best outcomes. Period.

Getting the best outcomes is ultimately why I have suggestions for my Dev friends. Getting the best outcomes possible is ultimately why this matte...