Sometimes the old standbys like showing up late to meetings, unprepared and then asking “what if Google does this,” or “how do you compete with Facebook” just aren't enough. If those pesky founders keep bothering you — here is the solution! One or two of these may be enough, but…

If you are getting too much VC attention — here is the solution! Just put these true and tested methods to work for you. One or two of these may be enough, but use at least three, and I guarantee the VC will not invest in your startup. 1. Cold email the VC The way…

Part 2 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. Baz Luhrman You will be overwhelmed with contradictory advice As a new aquarist you…

The FTX story is just so apropos of the issues discussed in my September 2022 post How to scam investors — 4 easy steps, that I had to write this update to add FTX to the WeWork, Theranos, Wirecard and Nikola stories. FTX — Sam Bankman-Fried Investors: Sequoia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund, …

Part 1. Years ago when I lived in Arizona, I proudly showed off my 250l saltwater aquarium to a guest — after a brief inspection he commented — “have you noticed how its lawyers and doctors that have the biggest aquariums — must be related to their need to play…

VC investment business model is similar to the book publishing and movie industries — it is dominated by betting on “blockbusters” and the power law. A few stars in the portfolio will create the vast majority of your returns, while the rest of the portfolio loses money. This is…

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new Socrates Both in sports and business at some point you will hit a wall. …

Now that our investment period at Change Ventures is ending, I wanted to gather my lessons learned from the past eight year with Fund I (USA), Fund II (EU) and the 30+ investments to date, together with the thousands of startups mentored/coached and evaluated as a judge/coach/board member at Prototron…

Just a few years ago most VCs shunned investments into edTech, considering it to be one of the toughest industries for startups to break into, scale and monetize. In the past couple years that perception has changed dramatically. …