Raising capital from non-traditional investors

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

Front's Series A Pitch Deck

35:00

The healing power of fitness goes far beyond physical benefits—for today’s guest, it’s a form of self-expression and a celebration of what the body can do. In this episode, host Nora McInerny sits down with fitness personality Ivylis Rivera, who shares her deeply personal journey of navigating life with Chronic Migraine while holding onto her passion for movement. Ivylis opens up about the struggle of staying active while facing the fear of triggering a headache or migraine attack and the resilience it takes to keep pushing forward—a resilience that carried her through the challenging journey of finding a Chronic Migraine treatment plan that worked for her. Join Nora and Ivylis as they explore the concept of “soft living,” a philosophy Ivylis embraces—staying active, listening to your body, and building trust in oneself. Click here for Product Information, including Boxed Warning and Medication Guide, or visit https://abbv.ie/prescribing_info See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

3 years ago 59:55

MP3•Episode home

TechCrunch Live records weekly at noon Pacific.

This TechCrunch Live event was a little different. Frederic Kerrest (Okta) and Mathilde Collin (Front) are both co-founders of their respective companies, but Kerrest is also an investor, and participated in Front's Series C alongside other industry leaders like Michael Cannon-Brooks from Atlassian, Eric Yuan from Zoom, and Jared Smith from Qualitics.

Hear the story of how Mathilde convinced Kerrest to invest in Front, and what she feels are the advantages of having operators as investors.

Mathilde brought along Front's Series C pitch deck, and explained the background and thought-process of several slides. But this isn't the first time she shared the deck. Following Front's Series A, B, and C, she published the pitch decks on Medium.

Front's Series B Pitch Deck

Front's Series C Pitch Deck

35 episodes

#Tech #Trading #Entrepreneur #Business #TechCrunch #Founders #Startup #Venture Capitalists

Raising capital from non-traditional investors

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

11 subscribers

published 3 years ago

MP3•Episode home

TechCrunch Live records weekly at noon Pacific.

Hear the story of how Mathilde convinced Kerrest to invest in Front, and what she feels are the advantages of having operators as investors.

Front's Series A Pitch Deck

Front's Series B Pitch Deck

Front's Series C Pitch Deck

35 episodes

#Tech #Trading #Entrepreneur #Business #TechCrunch #Founders #Startup #Venture Capitalists

All episodes

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Building AI for remote patient monitoring 49:09

2 years ago49:09

49:09

Today's interview was led by TechCrunch Senior Enterprise Reporter, Kyle Wiggers . Kyle spoke with Romi Gubes , the CEO of Sensi.AI, a startup that has developed 24/7 audio-based AI software to detect and predict physical, cognitive and emotional care-related anomalies. Joining Romi is Sergey Gribov , General partner at Flint Capital and a board member at Sensi.AI, who previously founded the enterprise assets management company AB Systems. Romi and Sergey spoke to us about: Providing an assisted solution for caregivers during the continued healthcare worker shortage When to develop your own AI, and when to use an off-the-shelf solution We closed out the show with a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How MinIO built a unicorn in object storage on top of Kubernetes and open source 43:49

2 years ago43:49

43:49

This week on the TechCrunch Live podcast, we hear from Mark Rostick from Intel Capital to Garima Kapoor from MinIO. It might not be the buzziest areas to grow a company, yet MinIO found a niche selling object storage, while competing directly with Amazon S3. Perhaps the open source component helps drive interest from its target developer market looking for an alternative from the cloud giant. It’s never easy competing with the likes of Amazon, yet MinIO has been able to find success. Garima Kapoor co-founded MinIO in 2014 and has since grown the company to a billion-dollar valuation. Along the way, Kapoor raised $126.30 million from venture capital, including from Mark Rostick of Intel Capital. We have a lot of questions about MinIO: Why did it get into a business competing directly with Amazon? What role did open source have in building a developer audience? How did cloud-native technologies contribute to your success? What did Mark and Intel Capital see in this company that made them think they could succeed in a crowded and mature market? And you can ask questions too! Each week on TechCrunch Live, registered Hopin attendees can submit questions, and I’ll do my best to ask as many as possible. TechCrunch Live is our weekly event series featuring top founders and investors. The show records live, most Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. PDT. It’s free to register and attend. Watch past episodes on our YouTube channel and subscribe to the podcast here .…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Identity and identifying a good deal 42:33

2 years ago42:33

42:33

Today's interview was led by TechCrunch Global Managing Editor, Ingrid Lunden . Ingrid spoke to Rick Song , one of the co-founders of Persona , which built and offers a large suite of identity verification solutions to address the ever-growing issue of identity fraud. Joining Rick is Mark Goldberg of Index Ventures , a firm that made a prescient move to spot and back Persona early on. Mark and Rick spoke to us about: How Persona keeps pace with AI Verification and Online Trust How Index Ventures is riding on the wave of the startup’s growth And the unique and complex issues that come to the public’s mind with AI Matt Burns closed out the show with audience questions and a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How Cambrian BioPharma is reinventing drug - and drug company - development 56:35

2 years ago56:35

56:35

Matt Burns spoke to James Peyer , the co-founder of Cambrian BioPharma , and Maryanna Saenko , co-founder and partner at Future Ventures . Cambrian BioPharma is a new pharmaceutical startup with a revolutionary approach to developing and managing drug development age-related diseases. What we're most interested in, though, is how Cambrian’s executive team attracts and retains top talent. (Spoiler: They give them an oversized amount of equity compared to traditional pharmaceutical companies.) James and Maryanna spoke to us about: Developing therapeutics for anti-aging in a way that works with the existing regulatory structure How James and Maryanna solve the 'venture capital math problem' But first we spoke on moving research from academia to the real world and fighting misconception and buzzwords around longevity biotech We closed out the show with a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Who's playing the long game in edtech? 49:56

2 years ago49:56

49:56

Today's interview was led by TechCrunch Senior Reporter and edtech expert, Natasha Mascarenhas . Natasha spoke to Sam Chaudhary , the founder of ClassDojo , who spent eight years building the edtech consumer app that focuses on student classrooms, before introducing a formal revenue model. Joining Sam is his investor Chris Farmer , the founder and CEO of SignalFire , a seed-stage venture firm that recently raised $900 million across four new funds. Sam and Chris spoke to us about: How Sam played the long-game in edtech and what he’d do differently if he had to do it all over again Why SignalFire chose to navigate the edtech space, specifically the connection between kids and consumers How Chris sees investing in companies that aren’t rushing to monetize The "outsider advantage" and its tension with insider knowledge We closed out the show with a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Managing uncertainty with Habi and Inspired Capital 41:21

2 years ago41:21

41:21

Matt Burns spoke to Brynne McNulty Rojas, who's the co-founder and CEO of Habi, the hot real estate startup out of Colombia which reached unicorn status last year. Brynne founded Habi to bring modern home buying tools to low- and middle-class home buyers in her home country of Colombia. Now, with a valuation above $1 billion USD, Habi is a serious player in the LatAm home buying market where the majority of the homes for sale are not listed online. Joining Brynne in this conversation is Mark Batsiyan , a co-founder and partner at Inspired Capital . Brynne and Mark spoke to us about: Habi's growth and what it was like to work with US-based investors How Brynne built her team's confidence during a period of uncertainty The value of transparency and sharing vulnerability And advice to founders raising in today's market We closed out the show with a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
AI innovation for in vitro fertilization with Root Ventures and Oma Fertility 34:59

2 years ago34:59

34:59

Today's interview was led by Neesha Tambe , TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield editor who’s also largely responsible for the hundreds of startups pitching and exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt. But she’s here today because of her personal experience with I-V-F. Neesha spoke with Oma Robotics o-founder Kiran Joshi and Root Ventures Partner Chrissy Meyer . Unlike many other fertility providers, Oma focuses on male infertility, and today we’re going to hear about a few things: Oma Fertility's experience building a company in healthcare during a global pandemic How Root made the jump to virtual-first investments, which is now the new norm And how founders can craft their story and stand out in a crowded market As always, Matt Burns closed out the show with a round of Pitch Practice and audience questions. If you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Easing the transportation industry's pain points from AtoB 30:15

2 years ago30:15

30:15

TechCrunch's Rebecca Bellan led today's interview, and she spoke with Contrary Capital founder and partner, Eric Tarczynski, and AtoB co-founder Harshita Arora . AtoB’s integrated financial platform is like Stripe for transportation, according to Harshita, but that's only part of what makes this startup interesting - Harshita herself is 21. She started this journey when she was 14 and wrote a best selling app when she was 16. She has a great story to tell. On this episode you’ll hear: Red flags VCs are keeping an eye out for when looking at teams How the VC and startup world reacts to the Girl Genius versus the Boy Genius. The pain points of the trucking industry, and why a fintech product aims to solve them. As always, Matt Burns closed out the show with a round of Pitch Practice and audience questions. If you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How to Scale Without Venture Capital with Vanta and Sequoia 35:27

2 years ago35:27

35:27

This week, TechCrunch’s top security editor Zack Whittaker interviewed Sequoia partner Andrew Reed and Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta. Cacioppo started Vanta in 2016 has taken on the important work of compliance and security automation, closing its Series B in October 2022. On today's episode, we talked about: Why startups should focus on compliance early The value of making SOC 2 easy and low-cost for comapnies And what VCs are looking for in a company focusing on compliance As always, Matt Burns closed out the show with questions from the audience and a round of Pitch Practice. Don't forget - you can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How to battle burnout and profit off human thriving, according to Thrive Global's Ariana Huffington 42:14

2 years ago42:14

42:14

This week, TechCrunch+ Editor In Chief, Alex Wilhelm , led the interview portion of our show. Alex spoke to Kleiner Perkins partner Mamoon Hamid and Founder & CEO of Thrive Global and co-founder of Huffington Post, Ariana Huffington . Huffington reckons that her company can help modern workers become healthier and more productive, partly through better habits — including sleep. And Mamoon thinks that the business she’s built around the idea has a big future. On today's episode, we talked about: Mamoon and Ariana's initial thoughts on where to go following Silicon Valley Bank's crash Thrive's growth and navigation of macro headwinds Employee well-being, burnout, and how to provide mental health support As always, Matt Burns closed out the show with questions from the audience and a round of Pitch Practice. Don't forget - you can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Co-founder matchmaking with David Blumberg and Tanis Jorge 40:10

2 years ago40:10

40:10

This week, Matt Burns spoke to Trulioo co-founder, Tanis Jorge , and David Blumberg of Blumberg Capital . Tanis and her co-founder, Stephen Ufford, began their journey with Trulioo back in 2011, and today, she runs The Cofounder’s Hub, a service dedicated to helping founders identify their needs and find a co-founder who works best in that situation. David was one of Trulioo’s first investors and put money in at every round. On today's episode, we talked about: Finding a co-founder (if you weren't lucky enough to meet them in high school) Building partnerships and putting "the founder ego" aside Navigating the equity split We closed out the show with questions from the audience and a round of Pitch Practice. As always, you can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel. The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How to build a better board of directors 35:58

2 years ago35:58

35:58

Matt Burns spoke with CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, Sagi Eliyahu , and Foundation Capital partner, Joanne Chen . Tonkean started in 2015 as a no-code development platform, and added Joanne to its board of directors when it raised its seed round in 2019. We talked to the duo about: the best ways for founders to work with their board of directors Why you can't have compliance without adoption Addressing blind spots in leadership what you should look for when structuring a pitch deck Be sure to stay through to the end for audience questions and our favorite segment: pitch practice. As always, you can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel , and we'll talk to you next week.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Why you should buy your kids a cash register according to Cube's CEO Christina Ross 38:13

2 years ago38:13

38:13

This week, Matt Burns spoke to CFO turned CEO Christina Ross and her Mayfield partner Rajeev Batra . Christina's story is great - Prior to founding Cube , she ran finance at corporations and high-growth startups. On today's episode, we talked all about the shifting role of a CFO, how Cube caught Mayfield's eye, how startups can acquire customers from the beginning, and why you should consider buying your kid a cash register. As always, we ended the show with Pitch Practice: 3 entrepreneurs got to pitch their business to Christina and Rajeev in return for their feedback and advice. You can watch the full interview, including slides from Cube's pitch deck, on our YouTube channel. The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts. Where did Cube come from, and where is it today? Hear Christina's journey from multiple CFO roles to becoming a CEO, and why she left those business to start her own. On Cube's top competitors including normal spreadsheets Why everyone speaks spreadsheets When did Mayfield invest, and what was your first meeting like? Butra spent several months getting to know Ross before investing in Cube. Mayfield investment process involves investing in the entrepreneur. Aligning on Cube's vision, mission, and purpose. How did Cube pitch its product in its 2022 fundraise? On the shifting demands of a modern CFO including why it requires more strategic thinking "Garbage in, garbage out." Why most companies still fall back on spreadsheets despite paying for external FP&A tools What did Mayfield find most intriguing about the product, and see its place in the vertical? Why Mayfield invested in Christina Ross, the founder, rather than investing in Cube, the company. Why Christina's family hates to play Clue with her. From CFO to CEO CFOs already make unpopular decisions, becoming a CEO According to Butra, Ross has made an impressive journey from CFO to CEO…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Pulling the right levers on startup profitability and fundraising 47:25

2 years ago47:25

47:25

TCL Podcast: Hear how to Cambly found profitability before its Series A Cambly was founded in 2012, and has since raised $80.29m from leading venture capital firms. Success didn’t come overnight. The company had to weather a failed fundraise and countless competitors on its way to becoming a market leader. I had Cambly CEO Sameer Shariff and Benchmark partner Sarah Tavel on TechCrunch Live. It was the first event of the 2023, and the timing is great. Part of Cambly’s story involves tweaking its business model to become cashflow positive much earlier than initially planned. And after the company started making money, it was able to close its Series A and a Series B. Hear this conversation in the TechCrunch Live podcast, or you can watch the video recap. Both are embedded below. TechCrunch Live records weekly, each Wednesday, at noon Pacific. It’s free to attend. Register for the next event right here. It will feature Christina Ross of Cube and Rajeev Batra of Mayfield. Outline Why Cambly failed to raise a Series A, and how the company changed to keep it afloat. Where was Cambly at in 2016, and what was the company’s runway and trajectory? What was the size of the total addressable market targeted by Cambly? After failing to close a Series A, how long did it take the company leaders to change direction? What moves did Cambly make to turn the company profitable? How to keep an investor engaged after they say no. What do investors expect after a pitch fails? How often should a founder email investors company updates? When is the right time for a company to fundraise? What metrics are important in a Series A raise? Don’t fundraise when the company needs money, but rather fundraise when the company can tell a compelling story. How do investors value a company that’s cash flow positive? On the struggles of building a marketplace. How to fight incumbent competitors. How to structure the company’s gross merchandise volume (GMV). How to avoid getting stuck in a very small market. Assets mentioned in the episode The Hierarchy of Marketplaces — Introduction and Level 1 , by Sarah Tavel…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
The TechCrunch Live Podcast Teaser 0:48

2 years ago0:48

0:48

The TechCrunch Live Podcast is back for season 2 on February 6! Matt Burns sits down with experienced entrepreneurs and investors -- including market leaders from Benchmark, Sequoia, Index and Kleiner Perkins -- to help founders build better venture-backed businesses. First up, we're talking to: Benchmark's Sarah Tavel and Cambly's Sameer Shariff . Register here to join us live! Cube's Christina Ross and Mayfield's Rajeev Batra . Register here to join us live! The TechCrunch Live Podcast airs Mondays at 12 PT, wherever you get your podcasts. Want to join us live? TechCrunch Live streams on YouTube , Facebook , and Hopin Wednesdays at 12 PT. Visit TechCrunch.com for registration and more!…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Be the best listener in the room 43:43

3 years ago43:43

43:43

If you listen to Ursheet Parikh, partner at Mayfield, Trevor Martin has a unique trait: He's always the best listener in the room. And as the leader of a leading CRISPR startup, it's a critical ability. Mammoth Biosciences employs leading bioengineers including Jennifer Doudna, the Noble prize winning scientist who co-developed CRISPR. Doudna co-founded Mammoth Biosciences with Martin, Lucas Harrington, and Janice Chan. In this TechCrunch Live event you'll hear how Martin attracted the best partners to form Mammoth Biosciences including Parikh, who wrote an early funding check. Step one? It starts with the vision and mission, and don't forget to listen.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How to bring life to (and fund) an API 49:04

3 years ago49:04

49:04

So you've made an API. It connects one thing to another, and it works well. How do you turn that into a business? On this week's TechCrunch Live, I host the perfect pairing of guests to talk about this. Stephany Kirkpatrick co-founded and runs Orum and has raised $82m for the company, which sells the Momentum API Orum calls it "A simple, smart payments API." It enables customers and businesses access to real-time payment rails without requiring a bank integration. This is a hugely impressive feat – but we're not here to talk about the API itself but how you get investors to fund an API. With Stephanie, we have Matt Sueoka from AMEX Ventures – the VC arm of American Express. They participated in Orum's Series A. And I think this makes for an interesting setup. AMEX Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm, and they tend to have different goals and operational input than a traditional VC fund. And because of that, you, as a startup founder, should have different approaches and expectations. We'll talk about it. But first, let's talk about TechCrunch Disrupt. The show is coming up in October, and tickets are still available. It's live and in person in San Francisco's Moscone Center. We have five stages of content with huge newsmakers on the Disrupt stage, more content like TechCrunch Live on the TC + stage, breakouts sessions, Q&A events, and Startup Battlefield, which is huge this year. Anyway, I hope you can make it. If anything, come to the event and watch me mess up live and in person. I'm hosting Startup Battlefield, which means there are so many names I'll going to miss pronounce.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
One market is easy, scaling to a hundred is hard (obviously) 2:07:44

3 years ago2:07:44

2:07:44

TechCrunch Live took a virtual trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota for this week's event. And it was a great trip! This event is extra long, and includes conversations with some of the best founders and investors from the region. Following the panels and interviews, three Minneapolis startups competed for free tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt. I love the first panel. It's a conversation with Andrew Leone, CEO and Founder of Dispatch, a last mile delivery platform that started with a couple guys and some box trucks. Since then the company shifted to a SaaS model and is now in 60 markets throughout the United States. You'll hear from Andrew and investor Anna Mason, Managing Partner at the Rise of the Rest fund, on how the company made the significant transition and continues to reinvent itself. The next two conversations involve other local startups and investors from the Minneapolis region. The final panel was hosted by TechCrunch's Haje Kamps where he speaks with Mary Grove, managing partner of Bread & Butter Ventures, and Justin Kaufenberg, managing director of Rally Ventures, about their investment strategies. Both are based in Minneapolis, and they are using the city as a lookout tower for what's happening across the US. Those not familiar with the Minneapolis ecosystem might scratch their heads, and wonder why not be based in the more traditional epicenters of investing -- Bay Area, New York, or Boston. It may have been true in the past that that's where the bulk of the opportunities are, but in our interview, Grove and Kaufenberg explain that a lot has changed in the last 10-15 years. Finally, TechCrunch's Anita Ramaswamy spoke with Atif Siddiqi a Southern California transplant who first relocated to the Twin Cities to participate in the Target Techstars accelerator program. He hasn’t looked back since. Siddiqi has spent the past seven years building up Branch from its roots as a Midwestern upstart focused on earned wage access into a formidable Series C-stage business with $75 million in funding from investors such as Addition and General Atlantic and clients including Uber and Walmart. Siddiqi and early Branch investor Ryan Broshar of Minneapolis-based Matchstick ventures explain how the city’s venture ecosystem has evolved over the years and share their tips for founders outside coastal tech hubs looking to raise capital, bring in customers and make an impact on their industries far beyond their immediate locales.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How to pitch a Series A, and other fun things 54:53

3 years ago54:53

54:53

This TechCrunch Live is all about raising a Series A. Jenny Lefcourt from Freestyle Partners and Guillaume de Zwirek CEO and co-founder of WELL Health talk on the specific steps founders should follow. We start the event talking about fundraising WELL Health’s seed round, and hear the lessons Guillaume de Zwirek learned along the way. As you’ll hear from Lefourt and de Zwirek, there are notable differences between raising a seed round and a Series A round. Investors look at different aspects of the company, and the founder must prepare for the fundraising differently. Rather than selling a story, they’re selling a company. This is a serious topic for Jenny Lefcourt. To help even more founders, she’s prepared an extensive blog post to go along with her TechCrunch Live appearance that goes even deeper into raising a Series A. Read that post here: https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/31/how-to-fundraise-a-series-a/…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Why you must build a moat around early customers 51:53

3 years ago51:53

51:53

Benchling's success didn't come overnight. Some ten years after its founding, the company is worth more than $6 billion, and the founder sees the company going public in the future. The company's future looks like its past: talking to customers and building for power users. Benchling's CEO and co-founder, Sajith Wickramasekara, recently spoke at a TechCrunch Live event along with one of its early investors, Miles Grimshaw, general partner at Benchmark. Together, the two explained Benchling's early strategy that tapped a small entry market, which eventually led to widespread adoption. As Wickramasekara explained, early funding was hard to secure. It was 2012, and Benchling sat alone between SaaS companies and biotech. "Every software investor thought what we were doing was small and unimportant," Wickramasekara said, adding later, "and then we went to science investors, and every science investor understood the challenges of R&D, but they didn't understand software; they invested in drugs." TechCrunch Live records weekly on Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. PDT/2:30 p.m. EDT. Join us!…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Sell the vision, not the business 55:59

3 years ago55:59

55:59

No one likes compliance training, but Ethena aims to improve the experience for everyone involved. Join Ethena’s CEO and co-founder, Roxanne Petraeus, and Homebrew’s Hunter Walk on this TechCrunch Live event to hear the strategies used to tackle and grow in underserved market segments. As you'll hear in the event, Roxanne Petraeus founded Ethena after the realization that compliance training hasn't evolved to meet the modern workplace. Instead of forcing employees to watch hour-long videos, Petraeus's company presents employees with bite-sized, quick takes that when completed in series, achieves the same compliance goal. During the early days of the company, Petraeus turned to Hunter Walk at Homebrew for venture capital fundraising. He somewhat turned her down, he said during this TechCrunch Live event, though still participated in the company's seed round -- just at a much smaller size. Why? Petraeus pitched Ethena's business rather than her vision for the company. This TechCrunch Live event is focused on the need to sell the company's vision, rather than just its business. Hunter Walk and Roxanne Petraeus walk through the steps to develop the company's vision and later lead fundraising efforts using this process. TechCrunch Live records weekly at 12:00 PT/3:00 ET. Visit TechCrunch.com for more information.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Convoy.com's secret growth hack (hint: truck stops) 56:53

3 years ago56:53

56:53

Dan Lewis launched Convoy in 2015 into the highly fragmented industry of trucking. Now worth $3.8 billion, the company is a leader in bringing digital services to trucking and freight. I’m thrilled to have him on TechCrunch Live this week, along with Chris Howard, founding partner at Fuel Capital, which invested in Convoy’s first several rounds. As you’ll hear, in 2014 and 2015, freight was ready for reinvention. Uber was becoming a verb, and the trucking industry needed a digital solution to connect the different parts of the industry. Convoy launched at the right time, CEO Chris Howard told me. Starting in 2014 wireless carriers started offering free smartphones, and once truckers got their hands on these devices, the industry quickly started to change. But there's more to this story than just free smartphones. Lewis and his fellow co-founders spent countless hours with truckers, trying to understand the market and how digital services would impact their businesses. Dan even explains that the company occasionally holds off-sites at truck stops. During this event, we’ll look at Convoy’s early pitch decks, which illustrates why Convoy launched when it did and how it established clear guiding principles.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Culture first, product second 49:55

3 years ago49:55

49:55

Mike Greene started Hi Marley to help improve communication in the insurance space. But we’re not talking about insurance at today’s TechCrunch Live event. Mike, along with Lily Lyman, are speaking on the importance of building a startup’s culture from the beginning. This is clearly a topic passionate to both Mike, as Hi Marley’s CEO, and Lily, an early investor and board observer. As you’ll hear at the event and the podcast, one of Hi Marley’s first hires helped define the culture, and Mike sees this is a critical step. This is a topic occasionally discussed at TechCrunch Live events. Internal tone and culture always spills outward and effects all aspects of a company’s growth from fundraising to selling products to clients.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
iRobot CEO talks, what else, robots 51:55

3 years ago51:55

51:55

Colin Angle is the CEO and a co-founder of iRobots, and ahead of TechCrunch's robotics event, he joined TechCrunch editor Brian Heater on a special Twitter Spaces. The conversation is great, and over the hour-long talk, tells a lot of never-before-heard stories of the early days of iRobot. On July 21, 2022, TechCrunch is hosting an all-day, virtual events featuring the top robotics startups, researchers and leaders. Find all the coverage here. https://techcrunch.com/events/tc-sessions-robotics-2022/ Watch all the interviews here. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHRxVckaE8dYEEL-1yN7gnK8V5IzjBfep…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Building Roboticists with Ayanna Howard and Ayah Bdeir 45:13

3 years ago45:13

45:13

TechCrunch Sessions: Robotics takes place on July 21, 2022. Register here: https://techcrunch.com/events/tc-sessions-robotics-2022/ . There’s never been a more exciting time to work in robotics. The pandemic changed the face of the industry from research to real world. Today we’ll be joined by two experts who will also serve as judges for the pitch-off at our upcoming robotics event. Ayanna Howard is the Dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering. She’s worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and founded the Georgia Tech spinoff, Zyrobotics. Ayah Bdeir is the founder of STEM education kit LittleBits and is a Venture Partner at early stage investment firm, E14 Fund.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Selling technical services to non-technical customers and investors 1:01:58

3 years ago1:01:58

1:01:58

Simplicity is desperately needed, Jordan Kretchmer was telling TechCrunch. Jordan’s the co-founder and CEO of Rapid Robotics, a firm that excels at selling its robotic solutions to non-technical customers and investors. His company launched a new service last month that highlights its approach. Called Smart Setup, this clever product gives customers a ridiculous amount of flexibility. Just roll a Rapid Robotics Operator to a new job, and the company says it can be trained to do a new task in under a minute. Simple. Rapid Robotics CEO Jordan Kretchmer and Bee Partners partner Kira Noodleman are today’s guests on TechCrunch Live. The two are experts on selling technical services, and during this TechCrunch Live event, they walk through their processes. As a partner at Bee Partners, Kira has been pushing this mantra for years. When Jordan was building Rapid Robotics’ early decks, he turned to Noodleman’s past research to develop his straightforward approach. And we have questions, too: How has fundraising for robotic startups changed in the last two years? How can deep tech startups best position themselves when approaching venture capitalists? What’s a good founder fit for Kira Noodleman and Bee Partners, and how does the firm utilize machine-to-machine learning when investing?…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Forethought AI's CEO explains the pitch deck that won Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018 59:31

3 years ago59:31

59:31

TechCrunch Live records weekly, live, each Wednesday at 3:00pm EDT / 12:00pm PDT. Forethought AI won Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018. Since then, the company raised two rounds of funding and is now a leader in human-centric artificial intelligence. During this live event, Dean Nicholas, CEO and co-founder of Forethought, and Vanessa Larco, NEA partner and Forethought board observer, talked through the company's early days. The two talked in depth about how Forethought launched its AI-based service amid stiff competition and a booming tech industry. Nicholas shared the pitch deck that helped the company win Startup Battlefield. He admits: the deck's design isn't pretty, but it worked in part because of several key slides around traction and partners. Register for future TechCrunch Live events, and watch past events here.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Mobility marketplaces and brake repair with Mike Ghaffary (Canvas Ventures) + Walker Drewett (NuBrakes) 1:00:18

3 years ago1:00:18

1:00:18

Walker Drewett founded NuBrakes in May 2019. According to Mike Ghaffary, GP at Canvas Ventures, Drewett is building a high-growth business powered by a marketplace model, which is why Ghaffary led the company's Series A. The product is simple: On-demand vehicle brake repair services. Join this episode to hear how Drewett raised capital and built NuBrakes on the learnings from his previous startup, NuWash (it's on-demand car washes, of course). TechCrunch Live records weekly on Wednesdays at 12:00pm PST.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Building founder/investor relationships and using grants to fund startups 55:48

3 years ago55:48

55:48

Funding radical startups addressing climate change with Natel Energy and Breakthrough Energy Ventures Libby Wayman, partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures (Bill Gate's climate investment firm), and Gia Schneider co-founder and CEO of Natel Energy join TechCrunch's Matt Burns on this episode of TechCrunch Live. Gia Schneider brought along a pitch deck that won over investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures. As she explains during the episode, the company was far from an overnight success. The project started in 2005 and the company was founded in 2009. Natel Energy looked to government grants in the early days as way to fund the development without dilated the company's cap table. Libby Wayman explained in detail how startups can apply for and use grants. This is a process she recommends for company's like Natel Energy. Eventually, as Natel Energy developed its technology and business, the company sought venture capital and won over Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Hear how Natel Energy fits within Breakthrough's investment thesis and what the firm looks for when investing in companies. TechCrunch Live records weekly on Wednesdays at 12:00pm PST.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
How Olive pivoted 27 times on its way to be worth $4 billion 34:58

3 years ago34:58

34:58

Olive is a homegrown Columbus, Ohio unicorn; hear from the CEO and lead investor how the company was founded and grew into an industry leader. Sean Lane co-founded Olive in 2012, and signed on Chris Olsen from Drive Capital as the company’s first investors. Now, nearly 10 years later, Olive has raised $856.3 million on its way to being a driving force in using artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry. But the company’s path to success wasn’t a straight line. As CEO Sean Lane explains on this special TechCrunch Live event, the company pivoted 27 times before finding its current product market fit. Lane explains the strategy behind changing a company’s direction and the emotional toil it takes on everyone involved — from employees to executives to the investors. Want to watch the panel: Here's the YouTube video.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Raising monster rounds for self-driving mobility startups 52:45

3 years ago52:45

52:45

Raquel Urtasun founded Waabi in 2021 after spending nearly three years as Uber’s R&D head of Advanced Technology Group (ATG). Waabi’s mission is to develop an AI-first approach to speed up the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles, starting with long-haul trucks. To do so, her company raised an $83.5 million Series A with Khosla Venture’s Sven Strohband leading the round. Both will speak to Urtasun’s unique (and commanding) perspective, and what allowed the company to raise the massive Series A. TechCrunch Live records weekly on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PDT/2:30 p.m. EDT. Join us! Click here to register for free and gain access to Waabi’s pitch deck, enter the pitch practice session and access the livestream where you can ask the speakers questions.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Building a better mobility fintech startup 1:00:53

3 years ago1:00:53

1:00:53

QED incubated this auto financing company in 2016 and Kevin Bennett became CEO in 2018 and soon after raised its first seed round. It started as MotoRefi, and rebranded in November 2021 to Caribou. But the mission remains: Transforming consumers’ financial relationship with their cars. Since the founding, Bennett has raised $74 million for the company, including early angel funding from Rachel Holt. At the time, she was a rising executive in Uber — a post she left in 2020 when she co-founded Construct Capital. Hear how Bennett pitched early investors, and what investors like Holt can provide to mobility companies.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Raising capital from non-traditional investors 59:55

3 years ago59:55

59:55

TechCrunch Live records weekly at noon Pacific. This TechCrunch Live event was a little different. Frederic Kerrest (Okta) and Mathilde Collin (Front) are both co-founders of their respective companies, but Kerrest is also an investor, and participated in Front's Series C alongside other industry leaders like Michael Cannon-Brooks from Atlassian, Eric Yuan from Zoom, and Jared Smith from Qualitics. Hear the story of how Mathilde convinced Kerrest to invest in Front, and what she feels are the advantages of having operators as investors. Mathilde brought along Front's Series C pitch deck, and explained the background and thought-process of several slides. But this isn't the first time she shared the deck. Following Front's Series A, B, and C, she published the pitch decks on Medium. Front's Series A Pitch Deck Front's Series B Pitch Deck Front's Series C Pitch Deck…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

1
Hear how Deel raised $629M without a pitch deck 55:19

3 years ago55:19

55:19

Welcome to the TechCrunch Live Podcast. This week, we hear from Alex Bouaziz, CEO of Deel, and Anish Acharya, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) in this TechCrunch Live episode. This show is a little different, and it’s Alex’s fault. He doesn’t have a pitch deck, and TCL generally shows early pitch decks and pulls out insights. But Alex raised $629m without a pitch deck. In this episode, learn the strategies he used to pitch without a deck, and hear about the deck A16z used to pitch itself to Deel. Want to pitch your company? Join us on Hopin for the next TechCrunch Live on Wednesday, April 27.…

The TechCrunch Live Podcast

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Introducing The TechCrunch Live Podcast 0:55

3 years ago0:55