What happens if you choose the wrong investor?
Choosing the wrong investor can slow your startup, distort your strategy, and create long-term friction that is harder to fix than raising no capital at all.
Capital is not just money - it comes with expectations, influence, and power. When ther...
The other day, during a workshop with Ukrainian and Moldovan founders, someone asked me a question I get all the time:
"Should I use jokes in my pitch?"
And I'll be honest - I love jokes. I think most people do.
There's something magical about laughter in a room full of investors. It lowers de...
Event season is here.Web Summit. TechArena. Demo days. Side events.Late nights. Bad coffee. Adrenaline.Founders fly home exhausted, collapse on the couch, and think:
"Thank god that's over."And then they rest.
That's the mistake.
Because your pitch doesn't end when you leave the room.It star...
Yesterday I spoke with a potential customer.They’d been recommended to me for one very specific thing:coaching their startups on the 30-second pitch.I get this request quite often.Because accelerators and investors keep running into the same problem:their startups can’t explain what they do ...
Before 2008, I had never even heard the word “pitch.”
Not once.
Then I got a new job at Ericsson - and everything changed.
Overnight, my role became this:
Take 80 pages of dense technical documentation per product (there were hundreds)
Digest it
Turn it into a 5–7 minute pitch per prod...
You might not know this, or maybe you do... and you haven't really given it any thought.But the difference between a startup that gets funded and a startup that fails isn't always just because of the idea or innovation. It's often due to the conviction in the face of rejection.
Most of the fou...
For the past 17 years, I’ve listened to tens of thousands of pitches. Investor pitches, yes - but also sales presentations, internal updates, boardroom discussions, and early conversations with customers.
And there’s one moment that almost always determines how the rest of it goes.
You feel it...
This week is going to be a bit longer newsletter than usual. But it's because I really want you to reach your goals!
So let me start by telling you something I see every single year.
December hits. Founders get inspired. And that is awesome.
They sit down, map out ambitious goals for the new...
If you’re reading this on December 25th and already feeling the itch to “just check one thing,” this is for you.
For the next seven to ten days, I want to challenge you to do something that’s probably really really hard for you (they are for most founders):
No workI want you to sit in the disc...
The last two weeks have been about competition.
Even though I don’t spend much time on competition in the pitch, it’s absolutely critical that you as a founder understand it deeply.
Two weeks ago, I explained why saying “We don’t have any direct competitors” can be deadly.
Last week, I showe...
Last week, I told you why saying “we don’t have any competition” destroys your credibility.This week, I want to keep my promise:
I’ll show you exactly how the strongest founders weave competition into their pitch, what to include, what to avoid, and what to leave for the Q&A.
Because here’s th...
During my 11 years as a pitch coach, there is still one moment that makes my stomach drop.
It happens every time a founder delivers a great pitch, builds momentum, raises the energy - and then confidently says:
“Our only competitor is…”Or even worse:“We don’t have any competition.”
In that exa...
