A few weeks ago I bumped into someone I worked with at a previous startup. He was still at the company, and had just found out some exciting news: the company’s valuation had increased! Wasn’t that wonderful?I got to the Hustle Fund office and excitedly told my co-worker the news.But ...

Around the holidays, it's insanely hard to raise VC money.Probably because most VCs take some time off to be with family and focus on their existing portfolio companies.But sometimes you need to raise just a little bit of money. And that's where Angel Investors come in.On December 17, Elizabeth Yin ...

This is the final chapter in a 5-part series called Pitch Deck Mistakes. We dive into 5 common (and deadly) mistakes we see all the time at Hustle Fund, explain why they're risky, and give concrete examples about what you can do to improve your deck. At an entrepreneurial conference ...

Welcome to Part 4 of the Pitch Deck Mistakes series. In Part 1, we covered how long your deck should be; in Part 2, we discussed how to present the problem slide; and Part 3 dissected how to presenting your business in the most compelling way possible.But even if all ...

Welcome to Part 3 of the Pitch Deck Mistakes series. In part 1, we cover length of your deck. In part 2, we cover the problem slide. Today you get part 3: how to pitch your solution.There are 3 important things to consider when putting together your “solution” slide(s):DifferentiationFraming your ...

In Part 1 of the Pitch Deck Mistake series covered length. Spoiler alert: It's important. Read about it here.Today we're diving into Part 2 of this series... so strap in and get ready to talk about your problem slide.Why is the problem slide so important?Your pitch deck's problem slide is ...

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 ...