🕰️ Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

00:48 - Opening Question

01:08 - Challenges in Evaluating Founders

03:56 - Assessing Founders

06:58 - Market and Product Assessments

09:25 - Founder-led companies do better at later stages?

12:00 - The Importance of Quantitative Assessments

13:14 - Psychological and Motivational Discernment

16:24 - Value Creation in AI

20:30 - Framework for Assessing Founders

24:32 - Storytelling + Narrative

26:43 - Vision

31:35 - Inquisition + Curiosity

33:42 - Grit and Drive

35:40 - Do Founders really need External Validation?

37:51 - Irreverence for Status Quo

39:53 - Resourcefulness in Time and Money

41:46 - Magnetism

45:56 - Superpowers

50:32 - Not-So “Ideal” Founders

51:45 - Curiosity as Sign of Intelligence

54:45 - Adapting to Time Constraints

01:01:09 - Conclusion

📍 About:

Born and raised in Philadelphia, James Shecter began his journey into entrepreneurship and venture capital as an undergraduate, where he served as a strategist and consultant for several student-run startups, including Seated and Transcend. He launched his professional career at Citibank in New York City, providing multi-stage M&A advisory services in the aerospace and business services sectors. Following this, he transitioned to Lee Equity, a middle-market private equity firm, where he was involved in various transactions within the fintech/insurtech and healthcare industries.

Most recently, James worked at 9Yards Capital, a growth-stage venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, where he contributed to deploying over $50 million into fintech, logistics, and enterprise startups such as Chainalysis, LeafLink, and Remote HR. Additionally, he co-leads The MBA Fund, an institutional seed fund that supports entrepreneurs from the Harvard, Stanford, and University of Pennsylvania ecosystems.

Since his high school years, James has been actively engaged in mentoring, tutoring, and coaching students from inner-city Philadelphia. He holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA in Behavioral Economics from Harvard. Outside of his professional pursuits, James enjoys surfing, reading, and writing, and is working towards building a collection of guitars as functional decor for his future home.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : understandingvc@gmail.com

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

🕰️ Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

00:42 - Purpose of a Pitch

02:15 - Defining the Outcome of Your Pitch

05:32 - Elements of Persuasion in a Pitch

12:08 - Different Types of Pitches

17:57 - Core of a Great Pitch

21:29 - Crafting an Effective Pitch

24:27 - Structuring the Pitch for Funding

28:22 - Right People to Practice Pitch to

30:06 - What Investors Look for in Startups

33:30 - Structuring Your Pitch for Maximum Impact

38:39 - Handling Q&A Sessions Effectively

41:14 - How should you End the Pitch?

45:18 - How often should Startups change the Pitch as it Progresses

47:43 - Should you seek feedback after a pitch?

50:55 - Importance of Visuals and Demos in a Pitch

55:36 - You are the Pitch

01:00:01 - Conclusion

📍 About:

Kris Childress is the Managing Partner at Kris Consulting, a Singapore-based consultancy helping early-stage tech startups. With a rich background in business development, technology commercialization, and strategic storytelling, Kris has played a pivotal role in the success of noted Singapore ventures such as Zimplistic, Equatorial Space, and NEU Battery Materials, providing expert guidance in pitching, business ideation, and strategy.

As the Mentor-in-Residence at the National University of Singapore’s Enterprise Incubator, Kris works closely with university spin-offs, providing hands-on mentoring to help them navigate the early stages of development. He likes to describe his focus as Ideation, Validation, and Narration for early-stage ventures. Kris was also part of the teaching and consulting team for the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Program (GRIP) for over 5 years, where he guided a number of startups towards market success.

Prior to moving to Singapore, Kris was deeply involved in business development for several U.S.-based technology companies in hardware, software, and consulting services. He holds a degree in Biology from a leading American university and has lived in Singapore for more than 17 years with his Singaporean wife and their two dogs, Zac and Zofie.

In addition to his professional endeavours, Kris is an avid reader with wide-ranging interests, which he says has been essential to his work as a mentor. Kris and his wife are also passionate travellers, having recently visited and kayaked in Antarctica for the first time.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : understandingvc@gmail.com

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

🕰️ Timestamps:

00:42 Success Metrics for Series A Fundraising

01:29 Industry Averages and Market Trends

02:11 Factors Influencing Graduation Rates

04:07 The Importance of Support and Playbooks

05:43 Developing Benchmarks and KPIs

10:54 Case Study: Tecto's Roadmap to Series A

12:46 Challenges and Common Gaps in Planning

17:56 Defining and Achieving Product-Market Fit

28:43 Go-to-Market Strategy Principles

30:05 Exploring Growth Channels

31:04 Key Metrics for Success

32:21 Pricing Strategies

35:53 Building a Strong Team

40:19 Financial Metrics and Burn Rates

42:39 Planning for Series A

45:37 Adapting to Challenges

50:25 Crafting a Compelling Equity Story

54:39 Ideal Metrics for Series A

57:45 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

📍About:

Christian Meermann is a Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures. After some years at The Boston Consulting Group, Christian joined Zalando as their first CMO. Christian was responsible for building up and managing the group’s marketing efforts (i.e. performance marketing, CRM, PR, TV and brand marketing). He then joined the Management Board of Peek&Cloppenburg and was responsible for the company’s online business. He holds a diploma in business administration from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He has lived and worked in the U.S., Spain, Brazil and South Africa. Christian gets excited about founders that are as passionate about execution as they are about building a strong and sustainable brand. He has a particular focus on logistics and mobility as well food technology companies.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

💌 Connect with Rahul:

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : understandingvc@gmail.com

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

📍 About:

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.