TechCrunch+ Roundup: Paid Acquisition Basics, Most Valuable Startups, and 10 Investors Taking the Pitch

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There is a direct correlation between the size and strength of a network and its likelihood of success.

In fact, connecting with reputable investors is relatively easy. Most companies have email addresses and contact forms on his website.

There are myriad reasons why a startup may not take off, but they generally boil down to three things:

• You don’t have a billion dollar idea.
• You are marketing the wrong investor.
• I don’t know if you can carry out that plan.

This month, all 10 “How to Pitch Me” attendees share investment themes, along with tactical advice for non-tech founders and questions entrepreneurs are expected to ask. Did. they During the pitch meeting:

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• Vivek Ramaswamy, Madrona’s partner
• Monique Woodard, Founding Partner and Managing Director, Cake Ventures
• Adam Struck, Founder and Managing Partner, Struck Capital
• Jenny Lefcourt, General Partner, Freestyle Capital
• Champ Sutipongchai, General Partner, Creative Ventures
• Latif Peracha, General Partner, M13
• Rich Malloy, SpringTime Ventures Managing Partner
• Harley Miller, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Left Lane Capital
• Blair Garou, Mercury Fund Co-Founder and Managing Director
• Kristin Wilson, Oui Capital Venture Partner

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to respond!

Early stage investors interested in being featured in a future column should send an email to guestcolumns@techcrunch.com with the subject line “How to pitch”.

Have a nice week

Walter Thompson
TechCrunch+ Editorial Manager
@your hero

Paid acquisitions: the best way to find product and market fit

Spending money on Google AdWords, Meta, or influencers takes some getting used to.

Paid acquisitions take time to generate positive returns, but growth expert Jonathan Martinez says this is still the “most efficient and frictionless process possible” to achieve product-market fit. There is no way.”

In this week’s column, we explain how to determine which channel is the best fit for your service, and use tools like Canva and Leadpages to create a “proven queue” for capturing and tapping into your users’ interests. Explain the list method in detail.

The ‘AI arms race’ is not just about who leads the industry

Gainels Managing Director Lorenzo Tione spoke to Dominic Madri Davis about his work leading the Syndicate’s sustainability and AI investments and his journey as an openly gay investor. rice field.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Tione shared his take on today’s frothy AI market, talked about where the sector is headed, and why it’s important to support founders who identify as LGBTQ+. I emphasized that

“They simply couldn’t access the venture engine because of who they are,” he says.

Here are the most valuable startup types in today’s early stage venture market

As I’m not an early stage investor, I was very surprised to find that video game startups were by far the best in terms of median seed funding raised in Q1 2023.

“Transportation came in second, followed by food, biotech, data analytics, and CRM and SaaS,” reports Alex Wilhelm, who studied Carta’s numbers.

At the Series A level, renewable energy, logistics and hardware startups topped the list.

“Don’t worry, the answer here isn’t just ‘build an AI startup,’ even if that seems like pretty solid advice to avoid down-rounds.”

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Venture firm Blackseed raises £5m in first round to invest in black founders

Between 2009 and 2019, UK-based VCs directed 0.24% of their funding to black founders.

“In some ways, this is worse than in the United States,” writes Dominic Madrid-Davis. Black Seed, an early-stage VC firm based in London, recently raised £5m to back black entrepreneurs.

“We exist as a technology fund and community,” said founder Karl Rocco. “We exist to bridge that gap and empower black founders.”

Deal Dive: Finally, a startup that builds a network for the most profitable people

Ten years ago, Porter Braswell launched Jopwell, an online community for people in the tech industry with “underrepresented communities and backgrounds,” reports Rebecca Sktak.

But expanding access doesn’t solve all problems.

“Retention was and still is a big challenge,” says Braswell. He is currently launching his platform 2045, a career that supports workers from his 30s to his 45s through coaching, advice and events.

“Being an expert on people of color in this country is a very tough job,” he says.

“It’s very exhausting when you’re a pro in the middle of your career and you look up and there’s no one like you.”