CONTENT FOR INVESTORS & ENTREPRENEURS
There are numerous, well-curated sites containing comprehensive lists, advice, articles, how-tos, etc. on raising money, angel investing, managing a startup, etc., all authored by personalities, VCs and/or other industry luminaries with enough startup foo to power a sold-out, multi-city speaking tour. This is not that. However, I've found the following articles, books and sites useful, instructive and interesting. I hope you find them useful too, and appreciate the work of these authors in giving back to the entrepreneurial community.
NEWSLETTERS I LIKE
A VC
Fred Wilson
Insightful, entertaining and usually-startup-related commentary since September 2003, by one of NYC's most famous and successful VCs. Subscribe or be mocked.
Scott Galloway
Brilliant, insightful and engagingly written articles the digital economy. If you like strong opinions and well-laid-out arguments, this is for you.
Matt Levine
Matt's articles are current-events focused and fascinating, even when not on a topic one would ordinarily follow. Subscribe for a while and give it a try.
A SHORT LIST OF GOOD STUFF
OKRs are a powerful — and proven — method to define objectives and achieve results: watch the TED Talk, read the Book, get the Newsletter. OKRs were invented by Andy Grove and championed by John Doerr.
"I’m a big believer in John Doerr’s simple yet effective OKR system — I’ve seen it work firsthand! I encourage every business leader to read Measure What Matters in order to learn some real and practical secrets for success." — Anne Wojcicki, Founder and CEO of 23andMe
DISCIPLINED ENTREPRENEURSHIP
BY BILL AULET
A systemic and rigorous 24 step framework to build new, innovation-based ventures, created at MIT. Keep your startup on track with the DE Toolbox. Read Bill's Articles. Read Bill's Book. Read books Recommended by Bill.
Bill Aulet, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.
She took 400 meetings with investors to get her startup funded. Here's what she learned. Dana is a serial entrepreneur and graduate of Y Combinator's SUS 2019 Cohort.
Entrepreneur Magazine | June 14, 2018
SOCIAL MEDIA COLD OUTREACH
BY NEIL PATEL
How To Send a LinkedIn Message to Anyone on LinkedIn
Cold outreach is one of the most feared things by entrepreneurs.
This is a great primer on how to do it, with examples and statistics.
HOW TO WRITE A FORWARDABLE INTRODUCTION EMAIL
BY ALEX ISKOLD
This is basic, foundational info for founders.
Minimize friction and maximize results.
Alex's web site — Thoughts on Tech Startups and Venture Capital — is well-organized and chock full of tremendously useful posts.
ENTREPRENERUR RESOURCES
BY THE NEW YORK ANGELS
A great list of info and resources curated by the longest running active angel group in New York City.
SAFE "Notes" suck but you don't care. Also, savvy investors hate them. You should too.
Yes, Y Combinator (author of the SAFE) posted a rebuttal.
No, it's not a good rebuttal.
Read more from Nikhil Kapur from Grayscale or Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures for more reasons why they are not good. Or Google it.
Pascal Levensohn & Andrew Krowne | TechCrunch | July 8, 2017
Peter says exactly the same things about the problems with Convertible Debt that I do, except in a different order, and with more gravitas. Peter, along with co-author Nicole Gravagna, is the author of Venture Capital for Dummies and is the Executive Director of Rockies Venture Club.
Note: If you're an investor about to "get stuck" with a Convertible Note, see Roger Royse's June 206 Article on how to avoid certain unfavorable tax consequences of such debt instruments.
Peter Adams's Blog | September 24, 2017
Learn about the different stages of financing, the many types of investors, and different avenues of funding.
Brad's Blog | January 28, 2019
Insightful, entertaining and usually-startup-related commentary since September 2003, by one of NYC's most famous and successful VCs.
Miscellaneous Highlights for Entrepreneurs & Investors:
Walk through the pipeline doc every morning with your team during fundraising. It's more important than coffee.
(But you should still have coffee).
TechStars Blog | November 14, 2019
THE STARTUP CHECKLIST AND (THE GUIDE TO) ANGEL INVESTING
BY DAVID S. ROSE
Gust is the go-to platform for raising Angel Capital and can also be used to start/grow your startup.
David Rose | Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the New York Angels. | Has been described by Forbes as "New York's Archangel", by BusinessWeek as a "world conquering entrepreneur", by Crain's New York Business as "the father of angel investing in New York", and by Red Herring magazine as "patriarch of Silicon Alley".
"... the difference between fundraising in the Bay Area versus fundraising somewhere else isn’t a difference of degree. It’s just qualitatively a completely different exercise." — Alex Danco
Alex's Newsletter | December 1, 2019
HOW TO USE SLACK
BY TODD WICKERSTY
"Email traffic between our team is down to almost zero since most of our communication occurs in Slack or our task management platform, asana." — Todd Wickersty
Todd Wickersty's Blog on Storyware | September 25th, 2019
5-MINUTE INVESTOR UPDATE
BY THE FOUNDER INSTITUTE
A Simple Template for Startups to Update Investors
""Investors need these updates to understand the health and growth of your company, and to see how they can help. Updates are also a way to keep a steady relationship with them should you ever need more money in the future." | The Founder Institute