Dan Ben-Nun

Day 74: 10 Pro Tips to Make Your Startup Pitch Deck Pop! Nail Your Pitch: Essential Startup Pitch Tips from the Founder Institute. Happy Friday, Friends! Today, I’ve got a 🔥 resource for you from the Founder Institute Texas that you NEED to check out if you’re working on a startup pitch. After seeing 1000s of pitches over the last 5+ years, I can tell you that nailing your pitch is an ongoing journey. You'll always find ways to sharpen it, tighten it, and make it hit harder. Trust me. So, to help you along, here are 10 tips to make your pitch deck pop and leave people saying, "Wow, this founder knows what's up!" 1️⃣ Focus on storytelling: No one cares about just facts—give them a story that pulls at their heartstrings (or at least keeps them awake ). 2️⃣ Structure matters: Follow a simple flow—problem, solution, market, traction, team. If you can’t explain it in that order, are you even solving a problem? 3️⃣ Keep it concise: You’ve got 10 minutes max. If you're taking longer, they’re thinking about lunch. 4️⃣ Prioritize content over design: A slick design is cool and all, but can you just make sure your content isn’t cluttered first? Please. 5️⃣ Use conversational language: Ditch the tech jargon and buzzwords. Talk to them like you're explaining it to a 10-year-old—simple, clear, relatable. 6️⃣ Show, don’t just tell: Demos, screenshots, whatever you’ve got—use them. Don’t just talk about your brilliant idea; prove it works. 7️⃣ Practice, but don’t aim for perfection: Things will go wrong. It's fine. Be prepared to roll with it. 8️⃣ Be prepared for questions: If someone stumps you with a question, don’t ramble. Take a beat, answer, and move on. Less awkward that way. 9️⃣ Demonstrate execution ability: Ideas are cool, but execution is KEY. Show you’re not just dreaming—you’re doing. 🔟 Build relationships: Your pitch isn’t a one-off—it's the start of a relationship. Get them hooked so they want to see you again. Want more? Check out the Founder Institute NTX’s cohort and get the tools and support to build something amazing: https://fi.co/dallas Your pitch is just the beginning—go make them believe in your vision! Who's ready to crush their next pitch? Tell me what part you struggle with the most in the comments. Let’s make the next days of our journey count, filled with more stories, inspiration, and community impact! P.S. Want to get involved? If this resonates, repost, to share with others ♻️ and follow Javy Martinez for more in the future.

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For everyone who has asked for help with their pitch decks, maybe this will dissuade you from asking: 10 page pitch deck with 20 investor contacts (seems to be a post-StartupFest / post-Collision activity every year)

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*Shopify BEATS on Q1 earnings* - I listened to Harley Finkelstein at 2x speed so you don't have to.. Highlights below 👇 In Q1, Shopify beat on both revenue and earnings with increased payment adoption and rapid growth as well as continued wins in the enterprise segment. Notable wins included BARKBOX, INC. PrettyLitter, Overstock, WYN BEAUTY by Serena Williams. A quick rundown of the #'s Gross Merchandise Value: $60.9B ( ⬆ 23%) - same growth rate as Q4. impressive to see that growth rate sustained at increasing scale. Revenue: $1.9B (⬆ 23%) - up 29% when adjusting for the sale of Shopify Fulfillment Network to Flexport. Gross Payments Volume: $36.2B (⬆ 32%) - most importantly GPV grew to 60% of GMV up from 56% in 2023 which means they're capturing more share of payments via Shopify Payments which means more revenue. Looking closely, their take rate also is increasing as Shop Pay increases penetration Subscription Solutions Revenue: $511M (⬆ 34%) - mainly driven by price increases and increased merchant adoption. MRR: $151M (⬆ 32%) - interesting 🚩 this is only up $2M from Q4 2023, so QoQ MRR growth is actually a tepid < 2% Shopify Plus accounts for 32% of MRR, a decline in share from Q3 last year. This is one of those hard-to-reconcile counter-narratives to everything the team says on these earnings calls about enterprise and moving up market. Gross Profit: $957M with GM at 51.4%. It's interesting to watch this GM oscillate on revenue mix for the quarter. Q4 is payments heavy which is traditionally lower margin whereas more of the revenue in Q1 comes from SaaS and subscriptions and pushes margin up. GP is what pays the bills so great to see it growing so quickly Free Cashflow: $232M (12% FCF margin and doubling YoY) - Shopify continues to become a cash-generating machine that will allow it to reinvest in its platform and growth to up the pressure on incumbents like Salesforce and Adobe. THE MAGIC METRIC - Shopify talks about increasing the Attach Rate, but I don't think they spend enough time on it. Ultimately, it's the number that drives this business and the long-term shareholder value of the company. Attach rate is defined as (merchant revenue/merchant GMV). Effectively, it's how much of their customers' revenue they capture as revenue to the platform. However, it's the ultimate balancing act - if too high competitors can steal share, too low, the business doesn't grow. The way to continue to justify increasing this take rate is to build valuable net new features where merchants have no problem paying incremental dollars to Shopify because they're either adding more value to the business or replacing other costs in the PnL. This is why Shopify Editions is such a big thing! Currently, Attach Rate is at 2.99% and growing QoQ The Look Ahead to Q1 2024 Looking forward, Q2 is forecasted to be in line with expectations set at the end of last year, so no surprises there. Good quarter Shopify!! #shopify

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From documentaries to selling his first SaaS company - here’s how he did it. Jordan started DropFunnels out of frustration.  He was promoting a new documentary–and it became a full-time job. He learned:  ↳ Launching a small business is hard.  ↳ It takes 5 different software tools  ↳ Those tools don’t work well together He decided to streamline the process with 1 platform: DropFunnels Jordan’s strategy? Sell the product before building it. Here’s what he did: 1/ Launched a Facebook group of founders with similar problems  2/ Gave that community free sales funnel templates  3/ Got feedback from users in real-time  4/ Recruited developers from the group  5/ Sold DropFunnels to his community (at a locked rate for life)  6/ Used that profit to build out the company COVID struck, everyone was selling things online and DropFunnels snowballed. Jordan’s business was thriving, but he was itching to build the next thing—so he decided to pursue an acquisition with us. After a competitive process, we found the right buyer who had a plan to keep the company growing without Jordan needing to stick around. Now, Jordan is building Revatto, a tool that’s already reducing churn by 50-70% for his clients & growing 70-90% month-over-month. Jordan’s new goal? A 9-figure exit for Revatto.  Our new goal? Help him achieve that exit. Thanks again for trusting our team Jordan Mederich – cannot wait to see what you build 💪

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Big mistake I see DTC founders make is expanding into retail too quickly. Sure, you might get on shelves, but if no one's buying, you get double crushed financially. Becca Millstein and team put on a masterclass in retail with Fishwife - here's how she did it in the Shark Tank 👇 When I met Becca Millstein, I wasn't sure about investing in "tinned fish"...BUT I was immediately struck by the branding and authenticity of Fishwife. Tinned fish was one of those sleepy categories you rarely think about and that's when I knew it was ripe for disruption. Fast forward and her vision has become a reality—and I'm proud to be a part of it through OpenSky Ventures. They've taken a product we all know (and maybe haven't thought about recently) and injected it with a funky, cool, and fresh vibe that's wildly authentic. Since launching, they've seen a consistent 200% - 300% year-over-year growth. Super impressive, but what really sets Fishwife apart is they did it profitably. That's almost unheard of in the startup world–especially for a CPG brand. Their secret? Focusing on margins from day one and running an incredibly lean operation: ➝ Very low payroll as % of net revenue (5-6%) ➝ Low marketing spend (6-11% of net revenue) ➝ Low G&A Opex (5-8%) For the first 2 years, they focused solely on organic growth and branding. Their branding was the marketing and it sold the story. Becca's distinctive vision and voice have created a brand that truly stands out, both on social and on shelves as the retail world has taken notice too. Fishwife has nearly doubled its retail presence from 1,800 to 3,400 doors in the last year alone. Their products are flying off the shelves at 2X the projected rate in partners like Whole Foods Market. As if that wasn't enough, Fishwife recently made an appearance on Shark Tank ABC which brought national exposure to this once-sleepy category. What's most impressive here is how they've balanced rapid growth with smart, sustainable marketing. They're not just selling tinned fish; they're selling a sustainable movement. Fishwife’s journey reminds me of a conversation I often have with founders about the dangers of expanding into retail too quickly. Sure, you might get your product on the shelf, but if no one's buying it, what's the point? Fishwife cracked this code brilliantly. It's companies like this that make me love what I do at OpenSky Ventures. Here's to Becca and the Fishwife team—I can't wait to see what you reel in next! 🎣

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When you're scaling a DTC brand from $5m to $30m, don't try to optimize for lowest cost of capital when you raise debt financing... The lenders out there who can offer the lowest cost of capital usually can't offer the capital flexibility and deal terms that you need as you scale. Low cost of capital lenders don't love DTC. It scares them because there is little to no A/R and inventory is a riskier collateral base. As such, they'll either offer you way too little capital availability or their offer will come with hefty protective provisions that feel punitive. Non-bank lenders tend to be the best fit for a DTC-heavy brand that is scaling profitability beyond $5m in annual sales. Traditional bank lenders, which offer lower cost of capital, tend to become a better option after you hit $30m+ in annual sales. Obviously, there are always exceptions to this rule, but the advice I'm offering here turns out to be true most of the time in my experience. __ Want more tips like this? Consider reposting or giving me Jon Blair a follow.

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The typical Joe Rogan episode gets 11 million downloads. The typical prime-time CNN episode gets just 400,000 viewers, of which only 80,000 are 25-54 year olds, targeted by advertisers. As more and more independent creators build not just audiences, but intimate connections and TRUST with their viewers and listeners, advertisers will increasingly be turning away from mainstream and legacy media towards independent podcasters, YouTubers, and social media personalities. My next guest on Future Squared, Preston Troutt, is the founder of Crowdsurf, a crowdfunding platform connecting investors with creators. Hear how they're thinking about the fast-growing creator economy, set to be worth more than HALF A TRILLION US dollars by 2030, in tomorrow's episode. Question: If you could invest in one up-and-coming creator today, who would it be?!

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I once negotiated with a seed-stage founder who wanted a +$100 million valuation. His main argument? A TechCrunch article about an adjacent business with a sky-high valuation. My guy had <$1 million in revenues. Founders, you must understand the difference between AVERAGES & MEDIANS. One outlier like OpenAI can skew the average massively. That article? It highlighted an outlier, not the norm. That's why it was newsworthy. I tried to explain: comparing to a flashy headline without context is a dead end. The investment didn't happen. Not sure what became of that startup, but given their unrealistic expectations, it would have made headlines if they raised anything. This isn’t rare. Too often, I meet founders chasing hype over building solid businesses. Focus on creating real value. #startups #venturecapital #investing #media

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The Activity level of #VentureCapital in the Southeast Find it EVERY Friday here on Hypepotamus #Entrepreneur #Startup #Investor

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You realize most successful founders had their first company fail? There is all kinds of data showing the following: Entrepreneurs with a failure under their belt will find the most success. Here's the why behind it: Because these people tried, failed, learned... BUT also realized its okay to try big things and fail, which builds resilience to try again Who would you bet on? First time founder? Or ones who's failed before?

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Founder-Turned-VC Investor Raised $150 Million for Her New Fund💰 Masha Bucher, ex-entrepreneur and founder of Day One Ventures, has raised $150M for her new VC fund. Founded in 2018, Day One Ventures focuses on early-stage startups, offering initial investments ranging from $1M to $2M. Notable companies in the firm’s portfolio include Worldcoin, legal services company DoNotPay Inc., and AI assistant You.com. 📝Diverse Investments and Real-World Impact Day One Ventures supports startups across various industries, with Bucher particularly drawn to founders tackling real-world challenges. “From profound wealth disparities to the urgent threat of climate change and the growing sense of social isolation, tech founders will be our lifeline toward a more abundant, diverse, and sustainable future,” Bucher stated regarding the new fund. 🏆The firm’s track record is impressive, with six of its investments achieving billion-dollar valuations and 22 companies either being sold or going public. This success highlights Day One's knack for identifying high-potential startups. 🎯PR Expertise and Strategic Growth Before transitioning to VC, Bucher founded a PR firm that managed communications for numerous tech companies. She has leveraged her PR expertise to coach startups on media strategies. “If you look at any business problem you want to solve and any business goal you want to solve, 90% of the business problems are communications problems,” Bucher explained on Bloomberg Television. “I think this is something we train founders on and something that we help them to do.” 📈Growth of Day One Ventures The new fund is Day One’s third and largest to date. Fund I, closed in 2019, was nearly $20 million, while the second fund in 2020 totaled $52.5 million. This latest fundraising effort saw contributions from US and European institutional LPs, as well as 14 of Bucher’s own portfolio company founders.💰 “When you are building a firm with value add and staying close to founders, you can attract a lot of capital from your own network,” Bucher said. Notably, she made a concerted effort to include female investors, securing backing from 9 female LPs. Significant in the male-dominated VC industry, where female founders received just 2% of the total capital invested in US startups in 2023, according to PitchBook.🤷‍♀️ 🤝New Investments and Future Focus Day One has already made 5 investments from its Fund III: Cradle, an AI startup focused on human longevity; Rainmaker, a Los Angeles-based company working on cloud-seeding technology; Affiniti; Astroforge; and Layer N.  🚀🌍 ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks: https://lnkd.in/gjC_EuTE #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #FemaleFounders #StartupFunding #Innovation

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Alternative Resources for founders, geared for startups with generous free tiers: 1) Papermark - Docsend alternative. 2) Tally - Typeform alternative. 3) Cal.com, Inc. - Calendly alternative. 4) Supabase - Firebase Alternative. 5) Sender.net - Mailchimp Alternative. What else are people using and loving in the founders stack?

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Think celebrity investors are all hype, no substance? This founder's story will change your mind. Quaid Walker, co-founder of the luxury watch authentication platform Bezel raised an $8M seed round by pitching to investors like John Legend and Kevin Hart. Quaid shared these nuggets with Foundersuite: ⌚ Know Your Target Audience Identify investors who are genuinely passionate about what your startup does. For Bezel, that meant zeroing in on celebrities known to be "watch people" and active in early-stage investing. ⌚ Make Bold Requests Don't be afraid to ask your existing network for introductions, even if it feels intimidating. Quaid didn't have personal connections to Hart or Legend, but he leveraged his network to get in front of them. ⌚ Do Your Homework Treat these meetings like any other investor pitch. Research the celebrity's past investments and understand what appeals to them. Lastly, be prepared to prove you and your team can execute. Beyond financial capital, high-profile backers can lend credibility and provide invaluable strategic guidance to accelerate your startup's growth. Just remember, public fame shouldn’t overshadow thorough evaluations of professional and personal fit to guarantee you have the best partnership for growth and success. Check more of Quaid's celebrity fundraising insights here: https://bit.ly/465l4vH Would you approach a celebrity investor? Why or why not? PS 🔔 Follow me for strategies and resources for startups and VCs! Looking to raise capital? 💸https://fundingstack.com/ for VCs and investors 💸https://foundersuite.com/ for startups At only $250/month: Fundingstack gets you access to 227K+ global investors. Or you can send me a direct message with "FREETRIAL" and I'll give you a secret access link.

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Health tech founders: Are you tired of the endless fundraising cycle? Here's why your pitch deck isn't cutting it anymore and what you need to do instead: 🔔Ditch the generic investor outreach 🔔Leverage the Capital Readiness Scorecard 🔔Streamline due diligence (save 118+ hours!) 🔔Master every funding stage from pre-seed to Series C In today’s #LinkedinAudio event, we dive deep into the challenges and strategies of capital fundraising in health tech. Here's what you'll learn: 💰Why many startups get caught in a perpetual fundraising cycle 💰How to target the right investors and stand out from the crowd 💰The power of the Capital Readiness Scorecard in streamlining due diligence 💰Key strategies for successful fundraising at every stage Don't miss out on these game-changing insights! Tell us: What is one of the biggest frustrations when fundraising for your innovative solution? Can't make it to the Audio event? Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app. It will be published on Sep 17th. See the specific link in the comments below. #HealthTech #Fundraising #StartupAdvice #CapitalReadiness

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Don’t discount your product before selling your business. Launching a massive sale of annual plans is tempting. Big sale = revenue bump = inflated valuation. But buyers see through this and either:  • Add a discount based on recent months  • Don’t touch the business. If it’s something like Black Friday, that’s okay... but it's best to avoid discounts altogether when prepping for a sale. #acquisitions #SaaS #founders

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Industry Ventures raised $900M for early-stage VCs Industry Ventures has raised a $900 million fund to support small, early-stage venture capital (VC) firms and their breakout startups. This is the firm’s seventh hybrid fund and is over 50% larger than the $575 million raised in 2021. The new fund will be divided into three areas: 1. backing VC funds (40%), 2. directly investing in Series B startups (40%), and 3. acquiring stakes in emerging investment firms from other limited partners (20%). Despite widespread challenges for smaller funds in today's venture fundraising environment, Roland Reynolds, senior managing director at Industry Ventures, notes that their managers are still successfully raising funds: “We’ve seen the vast majority of our managers are getting their funds done. It might take them a quarter or two longer, but most are [raising] larger fund sizes.” The firm continues to support more established small managers, such as IA Ventures and Altos Ventures, and is particularly optimistic about experienced investors leaving large firms to start new funds. For direct investments, Industry Ventures is focusing on the best Series B companies sourced from its manager relationships. Recent investments include online banking platform Relay and robotics company Cobot - Collaborative Robotics, Inc, with check sizes ranging from $2 million to $12 million. Founded in 2000 by Hans Swildens, Industry Ventures is primarily known for its secondary investments and now manages over $8 billion in assets. ✅ Looking to raise capital for your #VCfund and increase the international pool of your LPs?   🤝 Need warm #LP introductions?   📝 Selling #secondaries to increase liquidity?   🧐 Looking for co-investments (Series A/Series B)?   ▶ Please use G+QUANT's link for inquiries and fund decks, or send an inquiry to [email protected] #VentureCapital #IndustryVentures #EmergingManagers #Startups #SeriesB #SecondaryInvestments #VC

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Heres the thing I can tell you for sure after taking many companies 10-20MM Take time to build the right foundation Know your values and vision Know your audience and their needs And validate your goals and market Keep doing this right and in collaborations And you will find your PMF, GTM, Scale, Differentiation, Positioning Take time to build this right and you will scale seamlessly

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Excellent first episode! I especially loved the driverless car debate - agreed that scale roll out is farther off than most think, this is why we invested in Mapless AI to get societal and economic value sooner vs. later. Deep link at https://lnkd.in/ev2p8Dyn

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If you were going to start a Startup Studio right now, what industry or niche would you launch it with? Would it be a Co-Founder Studio or internal ideas only? Would you set up a fund or raise for each portfolio company? What if the infrastructure was already in place, a Studio entity, a Hold Co entity, a fund entity and a GP entity and all it is missing is a Studio team to run it and a fund team to handle the capital and allocations? What if there was $3-5 mil. in seed capital attached and the investor owns 45% of the Studio, which includes profits from the fund/s? Would a Studio in a box solution be ideal or would starting from scratch be preferred?

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