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Month: November 2021

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Startups The PISLA Beat

“Venture Capital may not be the only cure to your financial ailments.”

For any founder sources of capital are hard enough to come by as it is. Venture Capital is the most common and resourceful means of getting it. But what about the founders who dry up the well looking for the precious piece of gold that will lead them to bountiful success. There must be other means of reaching the holy grail of capital goals.

In an article done by TechCrunch Clearco co-founder and president Michele Romanow, and Pipe co-founder and co-CEO Harry Hurst. In the article, they sit down to discuss the various methods that firms can acquire funding and which would be the greatest channel for entrepreneurs.

However, Romanow and Hurst offered up that capital does not have to be “mutually exclusive.”

“I believe the largest companies in our portfolio are utilizing a variety of capital sources,” Romanow added. “I would advise you to conduct a study on what form of financing is appropriate for the stage of your business and the purpose for which it is being used. And I believe you’ll find that if you do that, you’ll end up being much less diluted at the end of the day. And you’ll find additional leverage over time, allowing you to scale much more quickly.”

According to Mathew, the majority of businesses are not a good fit for venture capital. “Venture investment is costly, and it comes with particular expectations depending on who you raise money from,” he said.

Romanow pointed out that whether a founder should seek venture capital or other forms of funding is primarily determined by their intended use of the funds. For example, if a firm needed money to buy inventory and advertising, venture financing would not be the ideal option. “It doesn’t make sense to give up significant equity at this level of the game to undertake something that’s a recurring and scalable expense with a fixed return,” Romanow said.

He explained that just because an investor rejects you once does not mean you should write them off permanently. Accel, according to Mathew, strives to be completely transparent with its feedback. “In fact, some of our best investments have come from saying to the creator, ‘No, not right now, but maybe later when you prove x, y, and z,’ and then revisiting,” he explained.
Misconceptions abound when it comes to venture capital and other alternative financing methods. One of the most common misconceptions about what Romanow’s organization does, according to her, is that it is the same as debt. “They possess your business if you don’t pay back your loan holders,” she warned. “So there’s a lot of risks there, and it’s late in the game.”

Original article done by TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/03/why-and-when-startups-should-look-to-diverse-sources-of-capital/

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Startups The PISLA Beat

“Female Founders On The Rise. “

COVID-19 set the precedent for the future in terms of Venture Capital fundraising. But even though funding increased that does not mean that there was an increase in the diversity of those who are receiving it. As it pertains to gender though, the divide is getting slimmer and slimmer.

In research done by PitchBook, in the first three quarters of 2021, female-founded companies raised $40.4 billion in 2,661 agreements, nearly twice the $23.7 billion raised in 2019 and more than ten times the $3.6 billion raised in 2011. It’s a hollow victory though as companies run by women are valued lower than their male counterparts. Despite rising, venture capital totals in general, women-founded startups in the United States saw their deal count fall by 2% and total dollars invested in their businesses dip by 3% in 2020.

Female-founded businesses raised fewer dollars from fewer rounds as the venture capital pool grew wider. According to PitchBook, female founders closed 150 to 200 deals per quarter in 2019, valuing $700 million to $950 million. So the dealings are increasing. Female-founded businesses are racking up significant exit numbers, and their performance is improving quicker than the general market.

The exit value of female-founded firms based in the United States has reached $58.8 billion, up 144 percent from 2020, according to the PitchBook-NVCA report. Exit totals in the bigger domestic venture market have increased by a relatively modest 102 percent during the same time period. The number of exits documented also supports those excellent dollar results: So far this year, 223 domestic female-founded firms have exited, a 12 percent increase over last year.

The numbers are increasing and money is being exchanged in the right hands. But all in all, is it at an acceptable pace?

This story was originally covered by Tech Crunch

Female founders are making a buzzing, venture-backed comeback

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Founder Highlight The PISLA Beat

“Founder Highlight: Ade Adesanya”

Ade Adesanya. A name that now ripples through the tech community. Co-Founder of Moving Analytics. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Adesanya came to America for college to study electrical engineering at the University of Houston. He then earned a master’s degree in engineering management and a diploma in finance from the University of Southern California. and quickly become enamored with Silicon Valley. Before launching Moving Analytics, Ade assisted researchers at the University of Southern California to commercialize their research into startup ventures.

Now his own venture, Moving Analytics is a virtual cardio rehab app that tracks the progress and recovery rates of victims of cardiac-based episodes. Speaking to Forbes Adesanya says, “Nigeria, where I am from and the rest of the world does zero cardiac rehabs”. This app is easy to access for recovering victims everywhere. In a study done by the CDC, heart disease is the number one leading cause of death for women, men, and people of color in the United States. This can be traced to poor dietary practices, exercise, and genetic predisposition. Most of the listed reasons can be solved with Moving Analytics.

Not only is this app a literally life-saver, but a financial one too. Ade found though that 30-40% of medical costs may be avoided if healthcare providers could persuade individuals to live better lifestyles. It would also reduce the 40-50 percent of persons who have another heart attack within a year of the first. Adesanya has now been listed by Forbes as a top 30 under 30 in healthcare by Forbes magazine. Adesanya has also been in UTC’s “Powerhuddles Lunch and Lesson”. More recently Adesanya has been listed in Pitchboook’s “Black Founders and Investors to Watch” list.

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The PISLA Beat

“So it’s time to go back into the office.”

2020 was an insane year for most to say the least. Life as we knew it was changing into a new unsettling climate that we still are recovering from. Businesses and other Organizations moved their operations from crowded tight office spaces to the reclusive corner spaces of their homes. It hasn’t been easy for anyone in business. The shutdown was unfortunately a sink or swim affair. But now that there is some semblance to a normal reality (or as much as it could be); leaders are now pondering the question, “Should we go back to the office?”

The overblown image on screens or 5- minute water breaks. There are several pros and cons to making such a change. One of the pros is the energy that you and your workers will produce interacting with each other and building a community of camaraderie. A negative aspect of moving back is the risk you run with COVID-19 not being eradicated and the constant looming fear of the safety of your workers. Have safety protocols in place so that if/when you go back into the office your staff will feel at ease and protected. You could go with a hybrid model where you have essential workers to your business come into the office and others stay at home. This is the model that institutes of higher learning are using which reduces the risk of liability if anything goes wrong.

A side benefit of this is that you can gradually and patiently start bringing people back into the workspace a few at a time. Most importantly keep the option to return just that, an option. Giving people the option to choose what is best for them will not only make them happier with whatever decision they make, but it will also create trust as you have given the initiative to your employees.