• Startup & Investor Resources
  • Recent Posts
  • Search
  • Contact Me

Instigator Blog

Lean Analytics, startups, angel investing, product management and more!

Founder DNA – How Investors Evaluate Startup Founders

October 21, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Are entrepreneurs born or taught? I’d say a bit of both. Environmental and genetic influences are so intertwined for most things (diseases, our health, intelligence, etc.) there’s no simple answer. Having said that, when we talk about founders and startups we often think of it as something intrinsic to the people, something inside them, built […]

Filed Under: Angel Investing, Startup Fundraising

Paying Yourself is Not a Reason to Raise Early Stage Funding

September 22, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

If you want to earn a market value salary, you need to get a job. Paying yourself isn’t a good enough reason to justify raising early stage funding. I realize that sounds harsh, but it’s not intended to be. Here’s a fairly common scenario for startup founders: Two or three people decide to start a […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

Shrinking the Table – How Investors and Startups Are Getting Closer

September 8, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Too often, investors and entrepreneurs think of themselves as being, “on opposites sides of the table.” Raising capital is a negotiation that regularly pits investors against entrepreneurs (and vice versa). This adversarial relationship is quite common, and the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs (many people describe it as a marriage) regularly falls apart. Sure, when […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

Raising Financing: Convertible Debt vs. Equity

September 1, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Seth Levine from Foundry Group touched off a debate on which is the best way to raise startup financing: convertible debt or equity. Paul Graham (intentionally or not) actually started things with a tweet, “Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

Startup Funding Doesn’t Always Create the Right Type of Acceleration

August 24, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

In a recent conversation with a friend (and fellow entrepreneur) we were discussing a couple of his bootstrapped initiatives. He’s struggling with the pace at which things are going, partially because he has to “pay the bills” through consulting. That time away from his startup and startup projects is hugely distracting. I know the feeling, […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising, Startups

It Doesn’t Matter How Much Money You’re Raising, It’s Still Hard

July 20, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Things certainly feel frothier these days. More and more companies are raising money, and valuations seem to be skyrocketing. But even in stronger economic times (we hope!) and bubblier eagerness to put venture and angel capital to work it’s still extremely hard to raise financing. And in many cases the amount of money you’re looking […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

4 Ways to Align Interests Between Startup Founders and Investors

March 31, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Are investors and startup founders on the same side of the table, or the opposite side? A: Depends. When things are going well, everyone feels like they’re on the same side of the table. When things are going not so well, it’s a different story. This is the reality of the startup-investor relationship. It’s not […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

Use of Funds

March 26, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Almost every investor pitch, whether to angel investors or venture capitalists involves one slide near the end about how much money a startup is looking to raise, milestones it hopes to achieve and generally, the “use of funds.” The intent behind describing the use of funds is to explain to the potential investors how you […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

No One Can Raise Funding for Your Startup Except You

February 23, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

One of the big roadblocks that first-time entrepreneurs face is the issue of raising capital. There are no easy answers. But one thing is certain, the only person that can raise financing for your startup is you. There are enough high quality resources out there on raising venture capital and angel investment. And there are […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

Using Mega Trends When Pitching Your Startup

January 28, 2010 by Ben Yoskovitz

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “mega trends” and how to use them when pitching your startup. Investors like mega trends. After all, they’re big. And most of us are aware of them and have been affected by them (or expect to be in the future). Tens of millions of baby boomers getting set […]

Filed Under: Startup Fundraising

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Ben Yoskovitz

Founding Partner at Highline Beta, a hybrid venture studio and VC firm that works with large, ambitious companies to identify new areas of opportunity through internal and external innovation.

Previously I was VP Product at VarageSale and GoInstant (acq. $CRM), and Founding Partner at Year One Labs.

Angel investments include: Breather, Spoiler Alert, SendWithUs and others.

My bio »

Buy Lean Analytics

Lean Analytics

"Lean Analytics is the missing piece of Lean Startup!" - Dan Martell, founder Clarity

Get the book at leananalyticsbook.com

Get updates

I've moved to Focused Chaos a newsletter focused on startups, investing and more. Please visit there to subscribe and get weekly content.

  • Startup & Investor Resources
  • Recent Posts
  • Search
  • Contact Me
Views expressed here are mine and mine alone.

Copyright © 2023 · Built on the Genesis Framework