StepUp Revolution - Essentials of Sourcing and Winning Funding

© Acceleforce 2015 - http://www.acceleforce.com September 2015

Created By:

Alysia Silberg

Darren Chertkow

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @acceleforce

#StepUpTakeFlight

Essentials of Sourcing and

Winning Investor Funding

http://www.acceleforce.com/

mailto:[email protected]

© Acceleforce 2015 - http://www.acceleforce.com

[email protected] @acceleforce #StepUpTakeFlight

Hi All Young Aspiring Entrepreneurs!

Welcome to Edition 2 of the #StepUpTakeFlight Entrepreneurs’

Revolution Start-up Guide!

One of the greatest challenges facing most young entrepreneurs

today is raising investor funding to make their dreams come true!

Given that we too have experienced these same challenges, we

thought it worthwhile to dedicate this next free eBook to Investor

Fundraising.

Just to give you some info on what you can find inside:

Part 1: Must-listen podcasts from YCombinator and a Tim Ferriss

interview with Naval Ravikant (one of the best angel investors around,

definitely worthwhile!)

Part 2: Investor fundraising books that really helped us get to the next

level (we included a short summary for each of the books). As you all

know by now from my TED talk (http://bit.ly/StepUpTF), I absolutely love

Audible.com and I strongly encourage you to start trying it out for

yourself, you won’t regret it!

Part 3: Top pitch videos to watch (You’ll learn a lot here)

Part 4: Best pitch decks to use to wow potential investors

Part 5: Great resources to learn more

Part 6: Thought leaders that you’d seriously benefit from following via

social media



http://bit.ly/StepUpTF



Exciting new addition to the

#StepUpTakeFlight Entrepreneurs’

Revolution!!!

On a very exciting note, we’ll be launching our first Start-up CEO

Virtual Peer- to- Peer Monthly Networking Session on Friday October

30th from 4pm- 5pm SA time.

Our aim with these awesome sessions is to connect ambitious,

dedicated Start-up founders and experienced mentors and thought

leaders from SA, Africa, the USA and eventually from around the

world, promoting engagement whilst delivering a platform to share

their ongoing business challenges.

Should you feel that you could benefit and add great value to our

sessions, feel free to reach out to us by email and we’ll try and see if

we can include you.

Also, in order for us to learn more about you and see how we can

help you succeed in your start-up, please could you fill out the

easy survey questions @ http://bitly.com/StepUpSurvey. Not

only are we learning from your answers to help you ultimately

succeed, we’d also love to include your start-up story in our

upcoming book!

Good-luck and as always, please feel to reach out and email us, if you

have any questions!

Keep Hustling!!!

Alysia and Darren

Contents:

Part 1 – Must Listen Podcasts

Part 2 – Investor Fundraising Books

Part 3 – Top Pitch Videos

Part 4 – Best Pitch Decks

Part 5 – Great Resources

Part 6 – Awesome Thought leaders worth

following



mailto:[email protected]?subject=I%20am%20interested%20in%20the%20Virtual%20Peer-to-Peer%20Session

http://bitly.com/StepUpSurvey



Part 1: Must Listen Podcasts

Must listen podcasts: From the coolest

entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, YCombinator:

https://itunes.apple.com/za/podcast/how-

to-start-a-startup/id922398209?mt=2

Short Summary

Sam Altman and the folks from Y Combinator

offer up an amazing course in "How To Start A

Start-up" at Stanford. Course includes lectures

from: Sam Altman, Dustin Moskovitz, Paul

Graham, Adora Cheung, Peter Thiel, Alex

Schultz, Kevin Hale, Marc Andreessen, Ron

Conway, Ben Silbermann, Alfred Lin, Patrick

and John Collison, Aaron Levie, Reid Hoffman,

Keith Rabois, Ben Horowitz, Marissa Mayer,

Hosian Rahman, Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy,

and more



https://itunes.apple.com/za/podcast/how-to-start-a-startup/id922398209?mt=2%20

https://itunes.apple.com/za/podcast/how-to-start-a-startup/id922398209?mt=2%20



Tim Ferriss interviews Naval Ravikant, The

Person He Calls Most for Start-up Advice

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/18

/the-evolutionary-angel-naval-ravikant/

Short Summary

Naval Ravikant (@naval) is the CEO and a co-

founder of AngelList. He previously co-

founded Epinions, which went public as part

of Shopping.com, and Vast.com. He is an

active angel investor and has invested in more

than 100 companies, including more than a

few “unicorn” mega-successes.

Timothy Ferriss has been listed as one of

Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business

People”, Forbes Magazine’s “Names You Need

to Know,” and is the 7th “most powerful”

personality on Newsweek’s Digital 100 Power

Index for 2012. He is an angel investor/advisor

(Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, and 20+

more) and author of numerous #1 New York

Times Best Selling books including the 4 hour

work week.



http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/18/the-evolutionary-angel-naval-ravikant/

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/18/the-evolutionary-angel-naval-ravikant/

https://twitter.com/naval

https://angel.co/

http://www.epinions.com/

http://www.shopping.com/

http://www.vast.com/

http://angel.co/naval

http://angel.co/naval

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/06/25/the-digital-100-methodology.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/06/25/the-digital-100-methodology.html

https://angel.co/tim

https://angel.co/tim



The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator,

Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for

Start-ups

Short Summary

Twice a year in the heart of Silicon Valley, a

small investment firm called Y Combinator

selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs

from around the world for three months of

intense work and instruction. Their brand-new

two- or three-person start-ups are given a

seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw

idea into a viable business, fast.

By Randall Stross

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-

Launch-Pad-Audiobook/B009IS9FD8

Part 2: Great Investor Fundraising

books to read as you embark on your

…journey



http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Launch-Pad-Audiobook/B009IS9FD8

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Launch-Pad-Audiobook/B009IS9FD8



Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your

Lawyer and Venture Capitalist

Short Summary

As each new generation of entrepreneurs

emerges, there is a renewed interest in how

venture capital deals come together. Yet there

really is no definitive guide to venture capital

deals. Nobody understands this better than

authors Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. For

more than seventeen years, they've been

involved in hundreds of venture capital

financings, and now, with Venture Deals, they

share their experiences in this field with you.

By Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Vent

ure-Deals-Audiobook/B005UPZF82



http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_pd_Bios-M_c2_1_auth?searchAuthor=Randall+Lane

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Venture-Deals-Audiobook/B005UPZF82

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Venture-Deals-Audiobook/B005UPZF82



Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to

Accelerate Your Start-up

Short Summary

It is a cold, hard fact of business life that most

start-ups fail. Even many of those

entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed have

stories of personal challenges, unsuccessful

companies, and difficulties along the way.

The founders of TechStars, a mentorship-

driven start-up accelerator, have worked with

entrepreneurs and companies over the past

twenty-five years, and have seen a number of

the same issues come up again and again.

By David Cohen & Brad Feld

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Do-

More-Faster-Audiobook/B0072L4VC8



http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Do-More-Faster-Audiobook/B0072L4VC8

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/Do-More-Faster-Audiobook/B0072L4VC8



The Six Secrets of Raising Capital: An

Insider's Guide for Entrepreneurs

Short Summary

Based on Bill Fisher's three-day seminars that

regularly sell out all over the world, this

audiobook offers the kind of capital-raising

street smarts no entrepreneur can do without.

As a banker in Silicon Valley in the '80s and a

businessman who founded a number of

successful companies beginning in the '90s,

Fisher has seen first-hand the kind of rookie

mistakes aspiring entrepreneurs make that

end up stopping them before they have a

chance to get started.

By Bill Fisher

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-

Six-Secrets-of-Raising-Capital-

Audiobook/B00U0CF4EA



http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Six-Secrets-of-Raising-Capital-Audiobook/B00U0CF4EA





Part 3: Check out Founder’s Institute

Winning Pitch Videos

The Founder Showcase, an event hosted by

the Founder Institute, has been helping seed-

stage startups get exposure to Silicon Valley

investors and press since 2009. In fact,

previous contestants have gone on to raise

over $355 million.

While more than 900 start-ups have

competed in the competition, just 130 have

competed on stage, and we have crowned

only 15 champions. Here are the videos of the

last thirteen pitches that won the event.

http://fi.co/posts/426

Source: Richard De Santoro

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141102042838-3787127-how-to-pitch-your-startup-to-investors



http://foundershowcase.com/






Part 4: Best pitch decks to use:

We really like these 2 resources, check them out and

let us know how well they work for you!

The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch

Deck from the Art of the Start 2.0

Guy Kawasaki

http://www.slideshare.net/GuyKawasaki/th

e-only-10-slide-you-need-in-a-pitch-from-

the-art-of-the-start-20

A Really Useful Pitch Deck Template and

Sample Content

The Pitch Deck Coach

http://www.slideshare.net/PitchDeckCoach

/the-ultimate-pitch-deck-template-by-

pitchdeckcoach



http://www.slideshare.net/GuyKawasaki/the-only-10-slide-you-need-in-a-pitch-from-the-art-of-the-start-20



http://www.slideshare.net/PitchDeckCoach/the-ultimate-pitch-deck-template-by-pitchdeckcoach





A Really interesting excerpt from Reid

Hoffman’s LinkedIn pitch to VC Greylock

http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-

greylock/

Part 5: Great Resources?

There’s a growing number of websites dedicated to helping navigate the

funding journey.

National Venture Capital Association

The National Venture Capital Association is the voice of Venture Capital in

the US and is the logical first step to learning about VC funding and the

process.

http://nvca.org

Founder Institute Startup Resource Vault

The Founder Institute startup resources list is a curated set of sources that

will teach you how to start a company from scratch. Sharing knowledge

with you from the idea stage, all the way to scaling your business.

http://fi.co/vault

Angel Capital Association

This site offers a great insight into America’s most prolific early stage

investment class.

http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/faqs/

Kaufmann Foundation Entreprenuership.org

Explore Entrepreneurship.org to find resources for all aspects of starting

and growing a business. Designed with entrepreneurs in mind, our

resource center allows you to find materials to grow great ideas.

http://www.entrepreneurship.org



http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/

http://reidhoffman.org/linkedin-pitch-to-greylock/

http://nvca.org/

http://nvca.org/

http://fi.co/vault

http://fi.co/vault



http://www.entrepreneurship.org/

http://www.entrepreneurship.org/



Part 6: Thought leaders you definitely

should be following, if you want to

raise investor funding and want to

learn from the best!

Brad Feld @bfeld

Marc Andreessen @pmarca

Elon Musk @elonmusk

Sam Altman @sama

Paul Graham @paulg

Sequoia Capital @sequoia

Reid Hoffman @reidhoffman

SURVEY QUESTIONS

For a chance to win a free 32” LG Flat Screen TV and be included

in our book, you must please go to the following link and answer

our short survey.


Thanks for reading!

Alysia and Darren – Team Acceleforce and founders of the

#StepUpTakeFlight Revolution

PS, Start living your dreams today!









Small Business & Entrepreneurship

StepUp Revolution - Essentials of Sourcing and Winning Funding