Stories

After seeing thousands of pitches, talking to hundreds of founders and actually raising quite some rounds myself, I thought about what traits actually make a good fundraiser:

As I received many questions about how to do it right, here comes what I see as best practice for early-stage reporting, especially targeting angels. Find all information, tips, and a best-practice Email structure here:

I get it. It’s difficult to track KPIs at an early-stage startup. However, not only when it comes to fundraising, but also for your strategic decision making, KPIs soon will become your best friend. As early-stage investor, KPIs can tip the needle to gain confidence in a startup, not only because of absolute figures, but especially because they show how founders see and run their business.

Who actually loves investor reporting? For most founders reporting to investors is a necessary evil! In fact, reporting can be a superpower for startups! Let’s see why…

What happens after you submitted your deck to an investor? A regular question we get at is what our investment process looks like. For most early-stage founders the investor process is a complete black box…

Any first-time founders seem to have no other choice but to send cold mails to start their fundraising journey, but is this really the truth? And how can you still crush your cold outreach to make it a success. Let’s start with the mistakes that we see a lot in our inbox:

Let’s face it: When it comes to VC fundraising, most founders are chasing the money or big brand names. But these two factors are too short sighted. Actually, it’s all about the relationship with your VC. The best VCs will not only bring expertise, network, and help to your company, but will also burn for your vision and will support you as a human.

Planning your runway is critical for startup success. But aiming for the traditional 12-16 months just won't cut it anymore. To achieve product-market fit (PMF) as an early-stage startup, you must extend your runway like never before. Let us explain…

As angel investors, we are constantly on the lookout for promising early-stage startups to support and nurture. However, a big part of our job is actually saying no - from more than 1000 deals opportunities since 2022, we only made 8 investments, with is a take rate of less than 1%.

In this article, we delve into the factors that make us pass on a deal, ranging from general concerns to specific mismatches with our investment approach.

In this article, we will provide valuable orientation and shed light on the investor's perspective by examining over 1,000 deals and showcasing our own investment experiences since the beginning of 2022. By deciphering the complexities of startup valuations, we aim to empower founders and create a more transparent startup ecosystem.

Throughout the journey of hiring about 1000 people directly or indirectly, I have come to realize the pivotal role that effective hiring practices play in the success of a company. Here are my five key insights that have guided my hiring decisions and have been instrumental in our company's growth and success.

Why do angel investor pump in more money when it is obviously too late? Learn more about your unconscious psychological biases in our article

Once you get VC funding, there is no way out! In practice, we identified this to be a dangerous trap that a lot of startups tap into and never get out of again. Especially now, as times of freely flowing money are over…

Assessing startups in their pre-seed phase is very difficult, because there are very few data points available to base a decision on. What if there is a single determinant that quickly helps to sort out?

Let’s have a look at the “expected portfolio return”!

Are you a founder obsessed with achieving a unicorn status?

While maximizing your valuation might seem like the ultimate goal, it can come back to haunt you in the long run. In this article, we discuss the potential consequences of focusing too much on your company's valuation and offer insights on how to avoid them.

As there is always a substantial amount of risk involved in founding and investing in a startup, we developed some basic criteria that help us to make a more rational decision. These criteria guide us along our defined investment strategy and help us focus on the important points.

Some founders do not include it in their pitch decks, others plan complex negotiation. Setting the right valuation in a pre-seed round is still a troublesome experience for a lot of founders.

Even worse, once we see a valuation, we will not negotiate it.

Have a look at our take on pre-seed valuations and what is important for us to understand, when we have a look at your pitch deck.

One of the most important pieces of advice we give to first-time founders is to approach their angel round fundraising process carefully.

Over the years, we have seen many startups try to fundraise for the first time, and we understand the struggles and challenges that come with it.

Check out our TOP 7 for those who are just starting out …