TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/ TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs 2023-04-25 21:45:20 Based on my conversations last week at TechCrunch Early Stage, VCs are very open to first-time founders who can demonstrate more than just enthusiasm. 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Based on my conversations last week at TechCrunch Early Stage, VCs are very open to first-time founders who can demonstrate more than just enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

But deal-making is idiosyncratic: A few investors might be content to make a deal over coffee, but early-stage teams still need a sturdy pitch deck or memo they can leave behind.<\/p>\n

Similarly, one VC may encourage newly minted CEOs to eat ramen and ride the bus, while another might suggest a salary in the low six figures, depending on geography, revenue and other factors.<\/p>\n

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members.
Use discount code TCPLUSROUNDUP<\/strong><\/a> to save 20% off a one- or two-year subscription.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n
I asked five early-stage investors to share frank advice for first-timers<\/a>, and I\u2019m going to save you some time \u2014 many, if not most, of you are probably not yet ready to pitch an investor.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t already spoken to scores of customers or created a contact spreadsheet for at least 25 investors who\u2019ve backed companies like yours, it\u2019s too soon.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019ve added \u201cAI\u201d to your pitch deck only to make it more appealing, I have some more bad news: FOMO is pass\u00e9, and due diligence is the new black.<\/p>\n
Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to respond! If you\u2019re an early-stage investor who wants to be included in future columns, email guestcolumns@techcrunch.com<\/a> with \u201cHow to pitch me\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s who participated this month:<\/p>\n
\n
Rudina Seseri<\/a>, founder and managing partner, Glasswing Ventures<\/li>\n
Patrick Salyer<\/a>, partner, Mayfield Fund<\/li>\n
Josh Constine<\/a>, venture partner, SignalFire<\/li>\n
Alexa von Tobel<\/a>, managing partner, Inspired Capital<\/li>\n
Oren Yunger<\/a>, partner, GGV Capital<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Thanks for reading,<\/p>\n
Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist<\/a><\/p>\n
10 years of fintech failure: 3 more ideas that failed to live up to the initial hype<\/h2>\n
$\"Failure\" Office Metaphor a wastebasket with an yellow arrow pointing to it that is surrounded by crumpled paper balls.$ <\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> TommL (opens in a new window)<\/span><\/a> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Do you remember P2P lending and on-demand insurance? If not, there\u2019s a good reason: Despite a lot of hype, they\u2019re just two of several fintech innovations that fizzled over the last decade.<\/p>\n
For his latest TC+ column, fintech consultant Grant Easterbrook examined three more ideas \u201cthat initially seemed promising but largely failed to change the financial services industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Easterbrook, these misfires offer valuable lessons to today\u2019s founders and investors: \u201cFintech entrepreneurs must remember the essential principle that the average consumer doesn\u2019t like thinking about money and often wants someone else to take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Precision fermentation\u2019s capacity craze: Have we lost the plot?<\/h2>\n
$\"Cheeseburger$ <\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Andrea Comi (opens in a new window)<\/span><\/a> \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Foods produced via precision fermentation are in supermarket frozen aisles and fast food restaurants, but when will bioprocessing\u2019s output surpass traditional farming methods?<\/p>\n
\u201cLeading scientists and technologists from the industry and academia tend to tell me \u2014 often in hushed tones and sometimes only off the record \u2014 that the economics of food-grade precision fermentation is nowhere near competing with commodity dairy or eggs,\u201d says Blake Byrne, a University of Cambridge graduate who\u2019s building a stealth mode biomanufacturing startup.<\/p>\n
Instead of \u201cscaling legacy systems,\u201d the precision fermentation industry should invest in applications that produce \u201cradical rather than incremental process intensification,\u201d he writes in TC+.<\/p>\n
At 0.69% in Q1, the dip in funding for Black founders \u2018no longer evokes an emotional response\u2019<\/h2>\n
$\"Full$ <\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Klaus Vedfelt \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Including seed, corporate venture, private equity and venture capital, Black founders generally receive around 1% of all funding.<\/p>\n
Recently, however, the entrepreneurs in this cohort saw a significant decrease: In Q1 2023, \u201cBlack founders raised an estimated 0.69%, or just $312 million, out of the around $45 billion Crunchbase totaled for the quarter,\u201d reports Dominic Madori-Davis.<\/p>\n
During the same period last year, they raised $1.26 billion.<\/p>\n
With such an uneven playing field, it\u2019s legitimate to expect some players to take a different course, which is why some Black founders are exploring alternatives like government grants, \u201cCVC funds and emerging firms in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aventurine helps early-stage founders find their footing<\/h2>\n $\"\"$ <\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> ivanastar \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Odysseus wandered for 10 years trying to find his way home, which is also about how long a founder can expect to work on building a successful startup.<\/p>\n
Like an epic poem, the journey is beset by pitfalls and self-made setbacks. It\u2019s not for everyone, which is why Aventurine Capital Group \u201cgets in early to support people who aren\u2019t natural entrepreneurs,\u201d writes Haje Jan Kamps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people are professors at universities and asking them to pick up roots and come to where we are, where there\u2019s a studio, is not going to work,\u201d said Joe Maruschak, managing director.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n
Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
\n<\/br>
\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/ TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs 2023-04-25 21:45:20 Based on my conversations last week at TechCrunch Early Stage, VCs are very open to first-time founders who can demonstrate more than just enthusiasm. But deal-making is idiosyncratic: A few investors might be content to make a deal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nTC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/04\/25\/tc-roundup-pitch-coaching-from-5-vcs-black-founder-funding-options-3-fintech-flubs\/ TC+ roundup: Pitch coaching from 5 VCs, Black founder funding options, 3 fintech flubs 2023-04-25 21:45:20 Based on my conversations last week at TechCrunch Early Stage, VCs are very open to first-time founders who can demonstrate more than just enthusiasm. 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Precision fermentation\u2019s capacity craze: Have we lost the plot?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n