Last week we released an article about unprofitable growth. The gist was that raising money to focus on growth – even if that growth isn’t increasing your revenue – might be a good strategy for some startups.But not for everyone. (We explained how you can figure out which strategy is ...

Since joining the Hustle Fund team 3 months ago, I’ve looked at hundreds of pitch decks.When I first came on board, this was my thinking:“Pitch decks can’t possibly matter. What’s important is the founder and their brilliant idea.”And if you have deep connections to investors who already believe in you ...

There is a myth in the fundraising world, and today we’re going to bust it.Here’s the myth: Growth is so important to a business (and to investors) that it’s worthwhile to focus on unprofitable growth.Of course, unprofitable growth means that you’re not making any profits.A lot of founders believe that ...

Last week I spoke with a startup founder who was looking for investment for his new company. During the call, one thing became painfully clear: this founder didn’t have a basic understanding of his metrics. He didn't know how much traffic he got each month, or at what rate his ...

In the last episode of our summer series, The Hustle Stage, we had the chance to sit down with Sydney Thomas of Precursor Ventures to learn more about her experiences investing at the earliest stages.Prior to her time at Precursor Ventures, Sydney worked in business development and product marketing for ...

In the sixth episode of The Hustle Stage, we had the chance to talk with current angel investor and Perfect Audience founder, Brad Flora about his work as an investor and his approach when evaluating investment opportunities.His experience as a founder in the AdTech arena helped to formulate his investment ...

In the fourth episode of The Hustle Stage, we connected with Sara Deshpande, General Partner at Maven Ventures, to learn about how her passion for consulting early stage founders led to her current role as a VC. A Stanford Business Grad, Sara also discusses how her past experiences in healthcare ...

In the fifth episode of our series, The Hustle Stage, we sat down with Tom Willerer to learn about his transition from product roles at prominent startups Netflix and Coursera, to his current role as a partner at Venrock.Having experience in education with Coursera and with subscription-based models, Tom’s investment ...

In the third episode of The Hustle Stage, we had the chance to chat with VC Ben Blumenfeld to learn about the intersection of design-thinking and fundraising at his fund, Designer Fund.Designer Fund is an early stage investor in startups that seek to transform industries with traditionally poor user experiences ...

In this week’s episode of the Hustle Stage, we sat down with Leah Busque to hear more about her experiences as an IBM engineer, the founder and CEO of TaskRabbit, and as an investor across different geographies with Fuel Capital.Watch on YouTube →