Tag Archives: Financing

Interview with the Great Wizard of Moz, Rand Fishkin

No one has been more supportive of StarkRavingVC.com than Rand Fishkin, the SEOmoz CEO who has more Twitter followers than the populations of the capital cities of Alaska, Maryland and Vermont (combined). When I started blogging, Rand Fishkin wrote a post about the 14 ideas he wanted me to write about in my blog. We decided it might be fun to hit them all in a video interview format. It’s no Skyfall, but I think Rand does an excellent job of posing the questions that entrepreneurs really want to ask VCs. Let me know what you think.

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Posted on January 4, 2013 by GG · 15 Comments

Do Diligence on Us

“Think of him as chewing gum. By the end of the game, I want you to know what flavor he is.” – Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman), Hoosiers

Entrepreneurs don’t do enough diligence on their investors.

As venture investors, we do a lot of diligence on you. We call references, both on and off your reference sheet. In our partnership discussion, we talk about your strengths and weaknesses, your character, your ability to grow the business, your idiosyncrasies, whether you will want to sell too early, your willingness to take feedback, and everything else under the sun. We are making a bet on you just

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Posted on December 9, 2012 by greggottesman · 12 Comments

The Best VC Pitch Ever

In the past 15 years at Madrona, I have heard in excess of 7,500 pitches. Some of them were great, some not so good, but not one compares to the pitch below.

In honor of TechStars Demo Day tomorrow in Seattle, I present to you . . . the Ice Cream Glove.

Posted on October 31, 2012 by GG · 2 Comments

Time Kills All Deals

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. –Narrator, Fight Club

No matter how compelling your product or service is, no matter how great the terms you are proposing, no matter how appealing you are as a promoter or sales person, given enough time, your deal will fall apart.

It won’t be your fault. In the last two quarters, I have heard the following from CEOs at various software startups.

“Our deal champion left the company.” “The budget shrank, so we’re off the table now.” “The buyer missed its numbers. Everything’s on hold.” “That company fell off the list because it … Continue reading →

Posted on October 23, 2012 by GG · 9 Comments