The end of the year is a natural time for self reflection. It’s an opportunity to take stock and consider the accomplishments you made over the past 12 months. The big things are usually obvious. You made these hires, you worked on these projects, you shipped these features and, if you're lucky, have some positive stats to show for the work. However the details are always a little bit fuzzy.
As a newly minted Venture Partner I’ve seen a few hundred pitches and pitch decks the past 12 months. While this is nothing compared with some of my peers, I’ve noticed a few clear patterns start to emerge. Patterns which, if founders were better prepared, would significantly increase their chances of securing investment.
Good brand architecture is a hierarchy. Like the oft used Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it starts with some basic obviously fundamentals that every brand should have, but then grows into areas that few brands successfully achieve. This article outlines four such levels, although I suspect there are plenty of different framings one could use.
As a Seedcamp Venture Partner, start-up advisor and occasional angel investor, I’ve found myself looped in to an increasing number of investor updates of late. While I’m by no means an expert in managing investor relations, I’ve spotted a few common patterns that make these updates a joy to read from an investor perspective, while allowing founders to get the most out of their investor and advisor networks. Let’s start with the basics…
While investors seem to be going all in on Web3 at the moment, I’ve been noticing an interesting trend that has its roots firmly in the Web 2.0 era — namely the Multi-Player Web. Before exploring this trend in more detail, I thought it would be worth taking a quick step back to explore where it originated from.
As a Seedcamp VP from a design and product background, I'm regularly asked for hiring advice. Especially from folks who have had an open role for several weeks (sometimes even months), but haven't been getting the quality or volume of candidates they've been hoping for. The first thing I usually do is ask to take a look at the job ad, as this is generally where the problem starts.