You have Product Market Fit (PMF) if 40+% of your users would be 'very disappointed' if your service shut down tomorrow. Sean Ellis, who led growth at companies like Dropbox and LogMeIn, arrived at this insight after years of trying to define what Product Market fit looked like. You can read more about Sean's 'Product … Continue reading Look for ‘Despite Moments’ as you search for ‘Product Market Fit’
Investment
Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 2 – Mentor Meetings
Following on from Week 1 Orientation, this is where we start to introduce the companies to our mentor network. This year we have scheduled 800+ face-to-face mentor meetings over three weeks. Mentoring is so critical to Techstars that our whole accelerator model is ‘mentor-driven’. (I will write more about our Mentor process in a future … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 2 – Mentor Meetings
How Investor FAQ’s help you fundraise
At SAP.iO Foundry, powered by Techstars Accelerator we recently organised a series of great investor workshops with a number of leading Berlin VC’s and our companies. The format was a private AMA style fireside chat/workshop where our founders could ask ‘the stupid’ questions and get personal tips and advice on how to raise money from … Continue reading How Investor FAQ’s help you fundraise
2 Ways to Raise Venture Capital
One of the most frequent questions I hear from 1st time founders is ‘How do I raise venture capital?’. There are so many smarter people blogging about this (for example Paul Graham, Naval Ravikant, Mark Suster, Brad Feld and Fred Wilson) but I think you can break it down into 2 ways; the 'Data Way' or … Continue reading 2 Ways to Raise Venture Capital
Should we raise a small or large seed round? A Funding Scenario
I recently caught up with a buddy who is setting out on a new venture. We quickly got talking about his new project and the 2 seed funding scenarios they are considering. She/He is based in the US, has founded and sold companies before, and is about to go again with their new venture. This discussion … Continue reading Should we raise a small or large seed round? A Funding Scenario
Don’t forget the 3C’s when fundraising for your startup.
Corporate Lawyers, Corporate Development teams and Competitors are often overlooked or avoided by first time fund raisers. I think this is a mistake as I’ve won customers, raised money, developed partnerships and understood my market better by engaging these cohorts as part of my fundraising activities. Corporate Lawyers Every technology investment deal usually has at … Continue reading Don’t forget the 3C’s when fundraising for your startup.
Why the Tools are Winning
Growing up in Ireland being called a tool was a bad thing. But now being a tool is very smart... especially when it comes to increasing your chances of startup success in the tech industry. As a long-time fan of analogies, I like to summarise my thesis along the lines of 'It's easier to get … Continue reading Why the Tools are Winning
Connor Murphy 