janellehmtam

4 ms·

1.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
That’s a good point - I went back and forth on what to base my sample slides off of. Ultimately, it was important to me to protect the privacy of the founders I work with, and was worried that any non-meta example I used would be taken to r
2.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
I’d argue that for the majority of founders, they’re both important - knowing someone gets you in the door, but having a compelling pitch and story (with the metrics to back it up, which assumes you’ve done the hard work to build a solid bu
3.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Analogies can be helpful if they're straightforward and accurate, and the company you're comparing yourself to is well-known and has a $1B+ market cap (at minimum). Beware of using analogies that are either overly convoluted or in
4.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Right - it's why we suggest founders start with a one-liner that describes what they do right now , that's clear enough that investors have a concrete picture of it in their heads. Once they've established that foundation, t
5.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Credibility comes from both the progress you've made with your company, as well as the relationship you build with the investor. We cover how to build credibility in your relationships with Series A investors in our Series A guide ( ht
6.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
We talk about this in the "Relationships" section of our Series A guide ( https://www.ycombinator.com/library/1s-relationships ), but in short: introductions from other entrepreneurs and your existing seed inve
7.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Very true - simplicity is probably the #1 thing I emphasize. Often founders are so in the weeds that they forget investors are learning about their company for the very first time, and information overload is real.
8.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Thank you! That's definitely a good one; just wanted to flesh out a little what each slide in the deck is meant to accomplish -- and how to knit it all together into a coherent narrative.
9.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
That's critical, of course! The advice here assumes you have a solid business, existing relationships with or warm connections to investors, etc. and that's why YC helps with those parts.
10.
How to Build a Great Series A Pitch and Deck(ycombinator.com)
377 points by janellehmtam 6y ago|37 comments
11.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
Over the course of working with 128 founders who've collectively raised $1.5B in Series As from 100 different investors over the past 2 years, I found I was giving a lot of the same advice - especially it came to how to most effectivel
12.
by janellehmtam 6y ago
We interviewed 30+ different YC founders that had successfully raised Series As about how they did so. We found that fundraising often looks easy from the outside (especially in the press release), but in reality can be quite messy and fill
13.
Syndicated rounds, for founders who can’t find a Series A lead(blog.ycombinator.com)
50 points by janellehmtam 6y ago|11 comments