Insights
What we’ve learned building companies.
Lessons from the businesses we’ve built with founders, and the ones that taught us the most.
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What to put in a data room.Most early-stage companies don’t have much to share in the due diligence process, but a well-prepared data room can build investor confidence, and be a significant contributor to you getting a term sheet. My team and I raised $2m for Scaled Networks.Read the post →
“How much money did you invest yourself?” said the investor.This might ruffle a few feathers, but here’s what this question probably means, and how to answer it. Founders, if an investor asks how much of your own money you’ve invested in your startup, it tells you: They probably have very little experience in startups; and They’re probably not someone you…Read the post →
The best founders I know share these 4 characteristics.As an angel investor, I’ve invested in 59 startups since 2012, including 3 via syndicates ($10K, $10K and $5K respectively).Read the post →
Startups: no-budget sales and marketing on LinkedIn.Founders, do you want a free way to drive users to your product or service? Here at DQventures we’ve been doing “free marketing” since the beginning. It’s now driving a daily increase in social media followers of 1%, and steady growth in organic traffic to our website.Read the post →
The pros and cons of crowdfunding for your startup.This post is partly our own thinking, and partly a summary of perspectives gathered from fellow angel investors. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the conversation. TLDR: PROs1. Broad exposure to active investors2. Reach potential customers (best for B2C)3. Find partners and advocates4. Extend reach without complicating the cap table5.Read the post →
What do startup employees expect from their share options?We’ve written before how founders should issue share options, so check out that article for a fuller explanation. This piece is focused more on employee expectations, and what aspects of a share options scheme are particularly important to the people you hire. Earlier in my startup career I made a rookie error.Read the post →
Should you build investor relationships or pitch cold?A lot of people suggest building relationships with investors before you start raising, but while this can certainly help in the long run, it can also be a massive waste of time. There’s a good reason for this: investors who want to invest are looking for deals.Read the post →
How it feels to lose $2m of other people’s money.This is a painful true story: I lost $2m of other people’s money on my first startup. It’s surreal to write it, but it happened. (All you founders out there raising money, be careful what you wish for.Read the post →
Founders, don’t ignore your health and wellbeing.Having been a founder several times, I’m all too familiar with the feeling that work needs to come first. “Let me just get to that next milestone and then I’ll start exercising/working less/sleeping more/seeing friends/spending quality time with my partner/etc.Read the post →
Building a community as a marketing channel.2 or 3 months ago, I told my cofounders, Arjun and Ol, that I was going to build a community of 150,000 startup people, which would be our strongest marketing asset by far. So far, it’s working. Here are the results and my strategy. Confession I have a motive for posting on Linkedin (and soRead the post →
Minimum viable product.Again and again we see the same mistake from people launching their own startup. They are 100% focused on the solution they’ve dreamed up, and believe the first big step towards success is to turn that solution into software. No. First, this assumption leads to all kinds of serious people problems.Read the post →
My learnings from 87 early-stage investments.I am one of the three cofounders of DQventures. Since 2012 I’ve made 57 direct angel investments, backed a further 25 companies as a limited/general partner (via Medra Capital and Investigate VC), earned “sweat equity” in 5 companies as an advisor, and launched 4 ventures of my own.Read the post →