Startup Funding Espresso – How To Say No to a Startup
Release Date: 05/12/2025
Startup Funding Espresso – First Meeting With an Investor
Investor Connect Podcast
First Meeting With an Investor Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. After a number of calls with a prospective investor, there comes the first meeting in person. Here are some key steps in running that meeting: Introduce yourself and your team. Show the market you are pursuing. Present your solution. Show your sales process and how it works. Explain your go-to-market strategy. List the milestones you plan to achieve with the funds raised. Define the fundraising status, including the amount, terms, and how much has...
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Startup Funding Espresso – Early Stage Traction
Investor Connect Podcast
Early Stage Traction Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the very early stage of the life of a company, traction can be more than just revenue growth Here are some key traction points to look for. The founder has an idea. The founder has an idea and a pitch deck. The founder has an idea, a pitch deck, and an MVP or minimum viable product The founder has an idea, a pitch deck, an MVP, and a customer. The founder has an idea, a pitch deck, an MVP, and a customer with revenue. The founder has an idea, a pitch...
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Startup Funding Espresso – Why Now?
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Why Now? Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding, it’s important to instill a sense of urgency in the fundraiser. One of the key elements is describing why now is the right time for this fundraiser. Follow these steps to show how everything is aligned for success: The team is experienced and in place. The product is ready and has been validated. The market is ripe for disruption. The window of opportunity has been opened by a recent event. An inflection point now gives the startup an advantage...
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Startup Funding Espresso – Build Your Presence With a VC Fund
Investor Connect Podcast
Build Your Presence With a VC Fund Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising funding from a VC fund, it’s important to understand the partner team. Each VC fund has a number of senior partners, junior partners, and others such as analysts and scouts. One of the partners will bring the founder to a weekly group meeting of the team to hear pitches from the founders. The partner bringing in the founder is the advocate. The founder pitches to the team. The team discusses and decides to pursue or pass. This...
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Startup Funding Espresso – How To Say No to a Startup
Investor Connect Podcast
How To Say No to a Startup Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Investors receive pitches from startups almost every day. Many of these startups simply don’t match the investment thesis of the investor. Here’s how to say no to a startup. Respond with the same level of effort that the founder put into the outreach. For an automated email, simply don’t respond. For a personalized email outreach, respond with a message “thank you for your outreach, this doesn’t fit our investment thesis. We look for”...
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Startup Funding Espresso – Don’t Play the Scenario Game in the Pitch
Investor Connect Podcast
Don’t Play the Scenario Game in the Pitch Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Founders are confronted with many options for their fundraising. If they raise more, they can achieve more milestones. If they raise less, they can achieve fewer milestones. Some founders play out these scenarios in the pitch to investors. This is a mistake. Multiple scenarios of varying amounts of funding with differing outcomes only confuse the investor. Investors often try to figure out what the startup is doing. Adding complexity...
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Investor Connect 826: Family Office Roundtable Part 03
Investor Connect Podcast
In this episode of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin talks with Mike Sloan, CEO and founder of Simple Labs, about their groundbreaking product, Cogni. Mike shares insights from his background in both bourbon and wine country, emphasizing the industry's challenges such as significant losses from evaporation and spoilage. Cogni offers a comprehensive barrel monitoring solution, leveraging real-time data to optimize quality, efficiency, and profitability. The discussion spans their impressive ROI, their expansion plans across various spirit and wine markets, and their substantial growth potential,...
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Startup Funding Espresso – Raising a Series B Round
Investor Connect Podcast
Raising a Series B Round Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In raising a seed or Series A round, the story carries the fundraising pitch. Investors in those rounds are looking at a seven to ten-year trek to the exit. In Series B, the time to exit is much shorter. The fundraising pitch here focuses on the numbers. The Series B deck shows the repeatable, predictable process that generates money. Investors expect all the systems to be up and running and the bugs to be worked out. This means putting a process on...
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Startup Funding Espresso – European Waterfall Model
Investor Connect Podcast
European Waterfall Model Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Venture capital funds use different payback structures. Each varies the structure for how the Limited Partners receive their returns. The European waterfall model does not pay back the carried interest to the general partners until the limited partners have received all their capital and return. The American waterfall model pays the general partners on a deal-by-deal basis. This spreads the risk over several deals and throughout the life of the fund. The...
info_outlineHow To Say No to a Startup
Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.
Investors receive pitches from startups almost every day.
Many of these startups simply don’t match the investment thesis of the investor.
Here’s how to say no to a startup.
Respond with the same level of effort that the founder put into the outreach.
For an automated email, simply don’t respond.
For a personalized email outreach, respond with a message “thank you for your outreach, this doesn’t fit our investment thesis. We look for” and explain your target area.
For a warm introduction, respond with what you like about the deal, but admit this doesn’t appear to be a fit.
It’s often the case that the founder will come back with more information.
In this case, respond with feedback on how to make the deal more interesting.
If the deal is missing key information, then advise the founder to include those key points.
This provides value to the interaction between the investor and the founder.
Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.
Let’s go startup something today.
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