Video Gallery

Being a first-time founder & CEO presents a unique set of challenges. Thinking you might be able to avoid mistakes altogether is, of course, unrealistic - even geniuses have flaws! It doesn't mean, however, that tried-and-true advice is not available to you - and some of it might just make or break your business. In the latest episode of the #AskAVC channel, I talk to Anshu Sharma, a founder of Skyflow, who both worked under the reign of a first-time CEO, as well as a first-time CEO himself. How to build a team of co-founders to complement your strengths and weaknesses? How role models can help you navigate the challenging daily reality of being a leader of a startup? How to make the right decisions about investors you will be working with? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more! Disclaimer: This video was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. We debated about even putting it out - but all the content, in our opinion, remains relevant and valid. We would like to honor an extraordinary effort of entrepreneurs who choose to launch or continue to work on their startups in these unprecedented challenging circumstances. Your contribution will be invaluable in bringing worldwide economies back on track in the hopefully near future. Thank you for watching!

The past few weeks have been crazy for everyone in the world, not just me - hence, the pause I took with putting out the new videos. Now I am back with the latest from my makeshift studio in the dining room. In this video, I reflect on how the ongoing pandemic changed things for the entire venture capital ecosystem - both from an investor, as well as an entrepreneur's standpoint. How the next couple of quarters might look like? Is it possible to get funding right now? Is this downturn any different from the 2008 meltdown and the dot-com bubble's burst? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more!

Remote teams are all the rage these days, especially in the tech industry. You get to hire the best people everywhere, and maybe even realize cost savings through salary arbitrage. However, as this trend is still relatively new, there is a lot you need to know if you'd like to leverage it for your business. In this episode of #AskAVC channel, I talk to Anshu Sharma, a founder of Skyflow, who also has many years of experience in managing and acquiring remote teams in companies like Oracle and Salesforce. What's the difference between remote and fully distributed teams? How to manage employees across various time zones? What are the cultural and technical challenges presented by having a remote workforce? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more!

Did you know that the average tenure of a VP of sales across businesses is 18 months? Imagine all the time and money spent on finding this person, investing in them building a team - only to have it all go out of the window a couple of months later. In the latest episode of #AskAVC channel, I share 3 ingredients critical for successful VP of sales hiring. Do you have to be good at sales yourself as a founder? How good your product needs to be before you can really scale sales? What do you need to know about your customers before you hire your first VP of sales? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more!

Finding an investor and securing their commitment is just the beginning of the journey. If you are a first-time founder, negotiating a term sheet can be a daunting task. In this video, I will walk you through the key terms and techniques to make sure that the deal will be closed successfully. Why knowing the basic difference between pre-money and post-money valuation is not enough? What to do if you are being asked to pay your investor's expenses? What does your company's governance structure have to do with your future? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more!

In the latest episode of the #AskAVC channel, I give entrepreneurs advice on researching potential investors in their business. Due diligence is the mutual process! How to get to know your future partners? How to "test drive" an investor with thoughtful questions? How to look for clues in an investor's past? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - and more!

In the latest episode of #AskAVC channel, I and Dominique Levin, co-CEO of Winning by Design that helps B2B companies grow by turning sales into a science, talk about common pitfalls and the successful strategies for customer onboarding. Turns out, onboarding customers is not just a technical challenge! What role customer expectations play in the successful onboarding process? How to make sure that the kick-off meeting will go well? Why it's important to share your best practices with customers? Watch the video to get answers to all these questions - plus an extra proven technique to increase your customer retention rate!