Alexander Harstrick’s Post

Many investors are "founder friendly," many are not. ExstoBio recently pitched to a leading angel #investment group out of Boston. It went great and we were invited back to pitch to their "General Investor Group." Here's the kicker: after congratulating our team, the investment group notified us that "there is a one-time #fee of $400 to present at the general investor meeting. You will be receiving an invoice from us shortly." The practice of requiring startups to pay to pitch (especially to an angel group) is not founder-friendly and is antithetical to a healthy and vibrant #startup eco-system. It's exploitative, scammy, and goes against the very spirit of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. We politely said "no." Maybe I'm overreacting. Have you had a similar experience raising capital? Do you charge startups to pitch? Share your thoughts below.

Meet Wade Myers, an influential judge and investor on our panel for the $50k Virtual Pitch Competition! With a remarkable career as a serial entrepreneur, investor, author, and speaker, Wade has left an indelible mark on the startup ecosystem. Having founded, invested in, and directed over 100 startups, and completed numerous financing and M&A transactions, Wade brings unparalleled expertise to our judging panel. As a general partner of the Eagle Venture Fund and multiple public equities and real estate funds, he has a keen eye for identifying promising ventures. Wade's entrepreneurial ventures span across various industries, including tech-enabled investment banking, SaaS-based big data, government services, and property management. His diverse background, which includes experience at the Boston Consulting Group, Mobil Corporation, and service as an Airborne Ranger in the US Army during the Gulf War, adds depth to his insights. A Baker Scholar graduate of Harvard’s MBA program, Wade is committed to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. Don't miss the opportunity to pitch your startup to Wade and other industry leaders. #Investor #AngelInvestor #SeedInvestor #Startup #Innovation #PitchCompetition #VentureCapital #Equity #Leader #Ventures #RaiseCapital #Invest #WadeMyers #ProForma

Meet The ThinkFISH Executive Team LIVE This is a live event to kick off our new community and get to know each other. All members are welcome to join and participate. If you have questions you would like answered before the session, please email reef@thinkfish.co or feel free to ask questions using the chat feature live on the session. Join Us https://lnkd.in/gQZxZ-RP Founders get; - Free membership to REEF and 4,623 Investors - Free Pitch Deck Review Investors get: - Access to opportunities, startups and founders. - Network with other investors in a private space. We look forward to seeing you on the session and serving you better to successfully raise your round. PANELISTS INCLUDE: Ben Padnos, CEO Clifford "Cliff" Jones, CSO Freizle Abarrientos, COO Connor Nolan, VP Sales and Partnerships Patrick McGuire, CRO (event moderator) #founders #investors #fundraising #funding #incubators #accelerators #funds #startups #business

Meet The ThinkFISH Executive Team LIVE This is a live event to kick off our new community and get to know each other. All members are welcome to join and participate. If you have questions you would like answered before the session, please email reef@thinkfish.co or feel free to ask questions using the chat feature live on the session. Join Us https://lnkd.in/gQZxZ-RP Founders get; - Free membership to REEF and 4,623 Investors - Free Pitch Deck Review Investors get: - Access to opportunities, startups and founders. - Network with other investors in a private space. We look forward to seeing you on the session and serving you better to successfully raise your round. PANELISTS INCLUDE: Ben Padnos, CEO Clifford "Cliff" Jones, CSO Freizle Abarrientos, COO Connor Nolan, VP Sales and Partnerships Patrick McGuire, CRO (event moderator) #founders #investors #fundraising #funding #incubators #accelerators #funds #startups #business

Meet The ThinkFISH Executive Team LIVE This is a live event to kick off our new community and get to know each other. All members are welcome to join and participate. If you have questions you would like answered before the session, please email reef@thinkfish.co or feel free to ask questions using the chat feature live on the session. Join Us https://lnkd.in/gQZxZ-RP Founders get; - Free membership to REEF and 4,623 Investors - Free Pitch Deck Review Investors get: - Access to opportunities, startups and founders. - Network with other investors in a private space. We look forward to seeing you on the session and serving you better to successfully raise your round. PANELISTS INCLUDE: Ben Padnos, CEO Clifford "Cliff" Jones, CSO Freizle Abarrientos, COO Connor Nolan, VP Sales and Partnerships Patrick McGuire, CRO (event moderator) #founders #investors #fundraising #funding #incubators #accelerators #funds #startups #business

Our inaugural Founders N' Funders event in New York City is this Wednesday, July 10th!!! 🗽 This event is exclusively for full-time founders, primarily Seed Stage and Series A. And, it is filling up fast! As a founder, you will have the opportunity to meet investors, network with other founders and you will hear from several different startup investors about what they look for when making investment decisions on the startups they invest in. ➡️ You can apply to attend here: https://lnkd.in/gqXWeThx (Due to capacity limitations, Seed & Series A founders are given priority and pre-seed founders are being put on a waitlist. Everyone who applies to attend will receive a free "Fundraising Playbook: 10 Steps for Fundraising Success" even if you don't get in.) We have room for one more VC to pitch at the event. As an investor, you will have 5 minutes to share a little about your firm, your investment thesis, industry focuses, check size, team and any key differentiators that make you unique in working with the founders you invest in. Let me or one of our sponsor partners know ASAP if you are interested in presenting as an investor. Thanks so much for all our awesome sponsors who have made this event possible! 💥 Justworks (Mike Dunckley / Gayle Bono) 💥 Carta (Will Buckstaff) 💥 Kintsugi (David Lorenzo Lopez / Ryan Connell) 💥 CAVU Securities, LLC (Chris McMillan) 💥 Optimist Legal (Omeed Tabiei, Esq.) 💥 Lazo (Juan Manuel Barrero) 💥 Capchase (Ian Garrett) 💥 Forecastr (Joseph Mensah) See you on Wednesday! 🏙️ #NYC #FoundersNFunders #startups

The Principled Business Summit 2024 brought together incredible business leaders in a unique space around the theme of using business as a force for good. Among this exclusive group was Nancy Fechnay, the founder of Unique Ventures, an organization dedicated to advising and supporting positive impact venture funds and startups. With over 15 years of experience as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Nancy's passion lies in working on business strategy, fundraising, and operations with a focus on conscious capitalism. If you want to connect with remarkable individuals like Nancy, we invite you to fill out the interest form for the 2nd edition of our Necker Summit. We're excited to be with you there! Find the link in our bio. #PrincipledBusiness #PrincipledBusinessSummit #neckerisland

Are you an investor interested in joining our Demo Days? 🤔🚀 As a member of SSE Business Lab’s angel investor or venture capital networks, you gain access to our by invitation only-events. The most important of these is Demo Day: your chance to connect with the most promising startups from the Stockholm School of Economics 📈 Check out the video to hear what investors like Mattias Miksche and Daniela Sjunnesson have to say about our latest Demo Day 👀 Want to join our network? Sign up below! Angel investors: https://ssebl.com/angel  Venture capital firms: https://ssebl.com/vc #entrepreneurship #demoday #angelinvesting #venturecapital 

Meet The ThinkFISH Executive Team LIVE This is a live event to kick off our new community and get to know each other. All members are welcome to join and participate. If you have questions you would like answered before the session, please email reef@thinkfish.co or feel free to ask questions using the chat feature live on the session.Join Us https://lnkd.in/gQZxZ-RPFounders get; - Free membership to REEF and 4,623 Investors - Free Pitch Deck ReviewInvestors get: - Access to opportunities, startups and founders. - Network with other investors in a private space.We look forward to seeing you on the session and serving you better to successfully raise your round.PANELISTS INCLUDE: Ben Padnos, CEO Clifford "Cliff" Jones, CSO Freizle Abarrientos, COO Connor Nolan, VP Sales and Partnerships Patrick McGuire, CRO (event moderator)#founders #investors #fundraising #funding #incubators #accelerators #funds #startups #business

Meet The ThinkFISH Executive Team LIVE This is a live event to kick off our new community and get to know each other. All members are welcome to join and participate. If you have questions you would like answered before the session, please email reef@thinkfish.co or feel free to ask questions using the chat feature live on the session.Join Us https://lnkd.in/gQZxZ-RPFounders get; - Free membership to REEF and 4,623 Investors - Free Pitch Deck ReviewInvestors get: - Access to opportunities, startups and founders. - Network with other investors in a private space.We look forward to seeing you on the session and serving you better to successfully raise your round.PANELISTS INCLUDE: Ben Padnos, CEO Clifford "Cliff" Jones, CSO Freizle Abarrientos, COO Connor Nolan, VP Sales and Partnerships Patrick McGuire, CRO (event moderator)#founders #investors #fundraising #funding #incubators #accelerators #funds #startups #business